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Dripping cakes
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Not to be confused with Lardy cakes, Eccles Cakes, etc. As a child I used to visit my Grandmother in Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. Each morning she would give me ten shillings (shows my age!!) to go down to the bakers to get Dripping Cakes for breakfast. They are about 3" square, the base is a cross between pastry and sponge, and the top is syrupy gooey, sometimes crunchy. I can't find anyone who knows what I'm talking about, and would love a recipe so that I can surprise my Dad.
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Peachy - I found this for you on the internet - I don't think we had them here in the USA:
REAL DRIPPING CAKEs
Dough
1lb Strong White Flour
.�.� pint Lukewarm Milk
8oz Currants
4oz Sultanas
2oz Sugar
1oz Lard
1oz Fresh Yeast
1 tsp Salt
Filling
4oz Lard
4oz Soft Brown Sugar
Caraway Seed
Mix the flour and salt together, rub in the lard.
Dissolve the sugar in a little of the milk and use to mix the yeast into a smooth thin paste, then add to the remaining water.
Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the liquid.
Mix together well until it becomes a smooth, elastic dough.
Shape into a ball and place in a warmed lightly greased bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes to allow it to rise.
Lightly knead the currants and sultanas into the dough.
Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
Mix together the soft brown sugar, lard for the filling.
Roll the dough into a long rectangle approx. 18 ins by 6ins
Spread the filling over two thirds of rectangle 18 ins by 4ins
Fold the section which has no filling into the centre of the rectangle and then the remaining section to the centre. Sprinkle lightly with the Caraway seed ( this produces that distinctive old fashioned taste)
Roll out the dough again to the same size as previously.
Starting at the short side 6ins, roll as if a swiss roll.
Cut the roll in half to produce two pieces each 3 ins wide.
Place each piece in a well-greased 6ins round baking tin, cover and leave in a warm place for 35 - 40 minutes to allow them to rise
Preheat oven to 200.�.�C: 400.�.�C: Gas 6 and bake for 35 - 40 minutes.
Caution: The filling will be very hot, so care must be taken as you eat them, if your anything like me, you won�t be
REAL DRIPPING CAKEs
Dough
1lb Strong White Flour
.�.� pint Lukewarm Milk
8oz Currants
4oz Sultanas
2oz Sugar
1oz Lard
1oz Fresh Yeast
1 tsp Salt
Filling
4oz Lard
4oz Soft Brown Sugar
Caraway Seed
Mix the flour and salt together, rub in the lard.
Dissolve the sugar in a little of the milk and use to mix the yeast into a smooth thin paste, then add to the remaining water.
Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the liquid.
Mix together well until it becomes a smooth, elastic dough.
Shape into a ball and place in a warmed lightly greased bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes to allow it to rise.
Lightly knead the currants and sultanas into the dough.
Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
Mix together the soft brown sugar, lard for the filling.
Roll the dough into a long rectangle approx. 18 ins by 6ins
Spread the filling over two thirds of rectangle 18 ins by 4ins
Fold the section which has no filling into the centre of the rectangle and then the remaining section to the centre. Sprinkle lightly with the Caraway seed ( this produces that distinctive old fashioned taste)
Roll out the dough again to the same size as previously.
Starting at the short side 6ins, roll as if a swiss roll.
Cut the roll in half to produce two pieces each 3 ins wide.
Place each piece in a well-greased 6ins round baking tin, cover and leave in a warm place for 35 - 40 minutes to allow them to rise
Preheat oven to 200.�.�C: 400.�.�C: Gas 6 and bake for 35 - 40 minutes.
Caution: The filling will be very hot, so care must be taken as you eat them, if your anything like me, you won�t be
Hi P - the following might be like the one you describe - I'm thinking of a similar cake w/out the fruit that I get occasionaly in bakers in Somerset when there too - the crunchy top comes from the brown sugar caramelising and the base is a soft rich texture - try the following as suggested omitting the fruit:
http://www.thefoody.com/baking/drippingcake.ht ml
There are quite a few variations on the name of this - Ilkley Cake, Traditional Welsh Dripping Cake - even James Martin has joined in with this idea too, but they all have the fruit & peel in them as far as I can see.
My mother used to make something very like this too, cut into squares to try to make it last - never worked...This was a proper cake - not with loads of junk chemicals added...
One option that might be along the lines of a breakfast item is Dripping Bunes - recipe here: http://www.retrofoodrecipes.com/dripping_scone s_1955.html
The Retro Recipe site has stacks of 'proper food' ideas that you might like as well if you want to give a surprise - Coq au Vin and Sole Mornay, hotpots soups and so on - have a trawl and get that apron dirty!
And ten shillings!! Good grief thats a weeks wage
pet.......obviously from the Big House then, not the close.........
Hope that helps as well..
http://www.thefoody.com/baking/drippingcake.ht ml
There are quite a few variations on the name of this - Ilkley Cake, Traditional Welsh Dripping Cake - even James Martin has joined in with this idea too, but they all have the fruit & peel in them as far as I can see.
My mother used to make something very like this too, cut into squares to try to make it last - never worked...This was a proper cake - not with loads of junk chemicals added...
One option that might be along the lines of a breakfast item is Dripping Bunes - recipe here: http://www.retrofoodrecipes.com/dripping_scone s_1955.html
The Retro Recipe site has stacks of 'proper food' ideas that you might like as well if you want to give a surprise - Coq au Vin and Sole Mornay, hotpots soups and so on - have a trawl and get that apron dirty!
And ten shillings!! Good grief thats a weeks wage
pet.......obviously from the Big House then, not the close.........
Hope that helps as well..
jan28761.
I did find a shop in Gloucestershire who sold them. I telephoned and said that I would like to order some and asked of the local bakery which supplied them would give me the recipe. Followed this up with an email to get details for payments, and heard no more! Must chase this up, and if I get anywhere, I'll pass the details on to you.
Peachybabe
I did find a shop in Gloucestershire who sold them. I telephoned and said that I would like to order some and asked of the local bakery which supplied them would give me the recipe. Followed this up with an email to get details for payments, and heard no more! Must chase this up, and if I get anywhere, I'll pass the details on to you.
Peachybabe
No fruit in this recipe
Let me know if this is it!
British Recipes > Chelsea Buns
How to make Chelsea buns:
Ingredients
6 cups organic plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
6 level teaspoons dried yeast
1 cup caster/superfine sugar
5 organic eggs
grated rind of 1 organic lemon
3/4 pint tepid buttermilk
20 sugar cubes
(see measure conversions for more information)
Method
- Cream the yeast with 1 teaspoon of the caster/superfine sugar and add the tepid buttermilk.
- Sift the flour and salt into a large basin and rub in half of the butter.
- Add the lemon rind.
- Beat the eggs and add them to the buttermilk and yeast mixture.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the liquid.
- Beat well with a wooden spoon until a dough is formed.
- Put the dough in a warm place until it has doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).
- Turn the dough onto a floured board and roll out into a strip of about 1/4 inch thickness.
- Spread this with the other half of the butter and half of the caster/superfine sugar.
- Fold the dough into 3 and roll it out to a 1/4 inch thick strip again.
- Sprinkle on the remaining sugar and cut the strip of dough into half lengthways.
- Roll up each strip like a Swiss roll, not more than 1 1/4 inch diameter and then slice the rolls into slices of about 1 1/4 inch length.
- Place these slices at least 1 inch apart on a greased baking tray and stand aside in a warm place until the buns are doubled in size.
- Sprinkle crushed sugar lumps over the buns (so the sugar looks coarse).
- Bake at 190 degrees centigrade (see temperature conversions) for about 25 minutes.
Let me know if this is it!
British Recipes > Chelsea Buns
How to make Chelsea buns:
Ingredients
6 cups organic plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
6 level teaspoons dried yeast
1 cup caster/superfine sugar
5 organic eggs
grated rind of 1 organic lemon
3/4 pint tepid buttermilk
20 sugar cubes
(see measure conversions for more information)
Method
- Cream the yeast with 1 teaspoon of the caster/superfine sugar and add the tepid buttermilk.
- Sift the flour and salt into a large basin and rub in half of the butter.
- Add the lemon rind.
- Beat the eggs and add them to the buttermilk and yeast mixture.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the liquid.
- Beat well with a wooden spoon until a dough is formed.
- Put the dough in a warm place until it has doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).
- Turn the dough onto a floured board and roll out into a strip of about 1/4 inch thickness.
- Spread this with the other half of the butter and half of the caster/superfine sugar.
- Fold the dough into 3 and roll it out to a 1/4 inch thick strip again.
- Sprinkle on the remaining sugar and cut the strip of dough into half lengthways.
- Roll up each strip like a Swiss roll, not more than 1 1/4 inch diameter and then slice the rolls into slices of about 1 1/4 inch length.
- Place these slices at least 1 inch apart on a greased baking tray and stand aside in a warm place until the buns are doubled in size.
- Sprinkle crushed sugar lumps over the buns (so the sugar looks coarse).
- Bake at 190 degrees centigrade (see temperature conversions) for about 25 minutes.
I, too, would visit my grandmother in Cheltenham when I was a kid and she would get up early and go to the bakery on The Bath Road and get "drippers" and I got hooked on them. I don't know why but here, lately, I've had a craving for some. I can't find a legitimate recipe for them, either. The last time I was in Cheltenham was in 2000. Being here in the "states" they never heard of them, not surprising, though. I know your query was entered four years ago, I just saw it today.
I live in Gloucester, UK. All the bakeries here sell dripping cakes and they all have fruit in. That is the usual way they are eaten these days, and as far as I can tell from my grandparents, they always were. Perhaps a regional variation? Although Cheltenham and Gloucester are so close.
Anyway, a basic white, yeasted bread dough is the basis for dripping cakes. You fold the dough into layers dotted with dripping, caster sugar and fruit, hence their name. You could just make the bread dough, set it into a square tin with sugar and butter/dripping in the bottom and bake as for bread. When turned out of the tin, upside down, they will have a sticky, caramel crust on the top.
Anyway, a basic white, yeasted bread dough is the basis for dripping cakes. You fold the dough into layers dotted with dripping, caster sugar and fruit, hence their name. You could just make the bread dough, set it into a square tin with sugar and butter/dripping in the bottom and bake as for bread. When turned out of the tin, upside down, they will have a sticky, caramel crust on the top.
I know this link is from eons ago but just to clear a few things up...
The recipe at the top is probably for lardy cake not drippers. Drippers are made with beef dripping, not pork lard. The original bakeries in the Cheltenham area that made and sold drippers were gardners, townsends, leopalds, mount stevens, and norths bakeries... you can still buy them but it's a bit like searching for holy grail... most of the local bakeries have gone so the remaining shops that sell them get them from further afield... but still relatively close regionally.
Drippers were and are always sold as plain or with fruit... I too am searching for a recipe... chances are I WILL find the holy grail first.
The recipe at the top is probably for lardy cake not drippers. Drippers are made with beef dripping, not pork lard. The original bakeries in the Cheltenham area that made and sold drippers were gardners, townsends, leopalds, mount stevens, and norths bakeries... you can still buy them but it's a bit like searching for holy grail... most of the local bakeries have gone so the remaining shops that sell them get them from further afield... but still relatively close regionally.
Drippers were and are always sold as plain or with fruit... I too am searching for a recipe... chances are I WILL find the holy grail first.
Hi, my name is Ian Woodland and I worked at Gardner's Bakery in Cheltenham from 1961, from the age of 15, for 25 years and was confectionary foreman when I left. My department was responsible for making the dripping cakes. The base was a basic dough rolled into a rectangle the size of the baking sheet/tray. The dough was spread with two thirds of the filling (equal quantities of brown sugar, white sugar, lard and margarine - no fruit!). The dough was then folded into the centre from both sides and rolled out with a rolling pin this process was then repeated. The dough with filling was then left to prove for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes it was then rolled to the size of the baking sheet/tray, allowed to prove again and then cut into equal portions. This was then baked on 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. On removing from the oven the dripping cake was tipped upside down onto another sheet/tray so that it had a sticky/gooey/toffee like covering. Enjoy!
Remembered fondly by residents and visitors to Gloucester over the years, many have sought the recipe to enable them to relive some very enjoyable moments from their childhood.
The ones that I remember did not have fruit, and should not be confused with lardy cakes, Eccles cakes, Chelsea buns, etc. But thank you to those who submitted recipies for these with a good heart!
Anyway now. For all those who have craved the taste if a Gloucester Dripper, and have followed this post over the last few years in anticipation,
HERE WE GO!
Dripping Cakes
2lb bread flour
Half oz of fresh yeast
Mix these with tepid water till you get a sticky dough (you'll need plenty of flour on work surface) cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest.
While that's resting beat up in a mixer
8oz margarine
8oz White shortening(Trex, Cookeen, White Flora or lard if you struggle to get shortening)
8oz granulated sugar
8oz demerera sugar
1) Beat till it's spreadable, it will lighten in colour.
2) Flour your table well and roll out the dough to about 18x30 inches.
3) Cover 2 thirds of the dough with half the fat mix.
4) Fold as if making flaky pastry (the third with no fat to the middle of the area with fat)
5) Repeat steps 3 and 4
6) Cover again and rest for thirty minutes.
7) Roll out gently to size and place in a 9x15 inch grease proof lined deep sided tray (a meat tray will be just the job) and cut through with a scraper 3x5 (15pieces).
8) Cover and leave to rise to top of tray then bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 200 degrees c
Allow to cool for ten minutes then turn upside down. Any fat left on grease proof paper, just pour it back on top, then leave the drippers to cool down for another ten minutes.
There you have it, DRIPPERS!!
The ones that I remember did not have fruit, and should not be confused with lardy cakes, Eccles cakes, Chelsea buns, etc. But thank you to those who submitted recipies for these with a good heart!
Anyway now. For all those who have craved the taste if a Gloucester Dripper, and have followed this post over the last few years in anticipation,
HERE WE GO!
Dripping Cakes
2lb bread flour
Half oz of fresh yeast
Mix these with tepid water till you get a sticky dough (you'll need plenty of flour on work surface) cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest.
While that's resting beat up in a mixer
8oz margarine
8oz White shortening(Trex, Cookeen, White Flora or lard if you struggle to get shortening)
8oz granulated sugar
8oz demerera sugar
1) Beat till it's spreadable, it will lighten in colour.
2) Flour your table well and roll out the dough to about 18x30 inches.
3) Cover 2 thirds of the dough with half the fat mix.
4) Fold as if making flaky pastry (the third with no fat to the middle of the area with fat)
5) Repeat steps 3 and 4
6) Cover again and rest for thirty minutes.
7) Roll out gently to size and place in a 9x15 inch grease proof lined deep sided tray (a meat tray will be just the job) and cut through with a scraper 3x5 (15pieces).
8) Cover and leave to rise to top of tray then bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 200 degrees c
Allow to cool for ten minutes then turn upside down. Any fat left on grease proof paper, just pour it back on top, then leave the drippers to cool down for another ten minutes.
There you have it, DRIPPERS!!
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