Traditional Cornish Heavy Cake
Ingredients
- 500g plain flour
- 250g lard
- 250g caster sugar
- 250g currants
- 150ml cold milk, plus a little extra for glaze
Preparation
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Put the flour, lard and sugar into a large mixing bowl and rub in the fat until there are no large lumps, like when making crumble. Mix in the currant and then the milk and stir well until you can combine the mixture into one ball of dough.
Put some baking paper onto a baking tray and press the dough out to make a rectangle slab. Alternatively, press it into a deep baking tray and cut out squares for eating later. Flour a rolling pin and roll it out to approximately 3cm deep. Brush a little extra milk over the top and lightly mark out vertical and horizontal lines to mark cake squares.
Put the cake in the oven to bake for 35 minutes. Check it and turn it after about 20 minutes to ensure an even bake. It will be slightly under-baked in the center, but this is preferred; if you want it fully dry, reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees and bake for an extra five minutes or so.
Dust with caster sugar and leave to cool until just warm before serving
