Marzipan Eccles Tarts Recipes

MARZIPAN ECCLES TARTS

Steps:

• Mix the dried fruit, grated apple or pear, Demerara sugar, marzipan, cloves and cinnamon.
• Divide the pastry into 6. Then assemble tarts one by one. Halve a chunk of pastry and roll out each halve to a circle about the thickness of a 50p piece on a floured surface. Spoon a sixth of the filling into the centre of one circle in a pile. Brush edges with egg, and lift the second pastry circle on top. Gently press down on the fruit to push out as much air as you can. Press the pastry edges to seal. Use an appropriate sized bowl, glass etc to help you trim the edges to a neat circle. At this stage, you can cover and chill the tarts overnight, or freeze for 1 month. Defrost before continuing. Brush with beaten egg, then make three small slashes with a knife in a row. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling.
• Pop the tarts in the fridge while you heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. When the oven is nice and hot, brush tarts all over with egg and sprinkle each with a little more sugar. Bake for 20 - 25 mins, until golden, then eat warm with ice cream or custard.

ECCLES CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Sprinkle a baking sheet with water.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in currants, mixed peel, demerara sugar and mixed spice. Stir until sugar is dissolved and fruit is well coated. Remove from heat.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out 8 (5 inch) circles, using a saucer as a guide. Divide the fruit mixture evenly between the circles. Moisten the edges of the pastry, pull the edges to the center and pinch to seal. Invert filled cakes on the floured surface and roll out gently to make a wider, flatter circle, but do not break the dough.
• Brush each cake with egg white and sprinkle generously with white sugar. Make three parallel cuts across the top of each cake, then place them on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes, until golden.