Eccles cake

An Eccles cake is a small, round cake filled with currants and made from puff pastry with butter and topped with demerara sugar.

Name and origin

Eccles cakes are named after the English town of Eccles, in Salford. It is not known who invented the recipe, but James Birch is credited with being the first person to sell Eccles cakes on a commercial basis, which he sold from his shop at the corner of Vicarage Road and St Mary’s Road (now known as Church Street) in the town centre, in 1793. [cite web
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title = The history behind (and recipe for) Eccles Cakes
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publisher = Salford City Council
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url = http://www.salford.gov.uk/living/yourcom/salfordlife/aboutsalford/salfordlocalhistory/localhistory-eccles/ecclescakes.htm Detailed History
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accessdate = 2007-04-10]

Nicknames for the Eccles cake include "Squashed Fly Cake" and "Fly Cake" or even "a Fly's Graveyard", owing to the appearance of the currants that it contains.

imilar pastries

The Garibaldi biscuit is a smaller, drier cousin, and is also referred to as a "Fly Cake" and related terms.

The Chorley cake (from the town of Chorley in Lancashire) is flatter in appearance, is made with shortcrust pastry rather than flakey pastry and is devoid of sugar topping.

Banbury cakes are an oval shaped cake from the town of Banbury.

Uses

Traditionally paired with Lancashire cheese, as is Chorley cake.

Notes