currant cake or east lancs sad cake

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by West Ender

I was about to say that, Gayle. A Chorley cake is the plain pastry one, Eccles cake uses pastry made with butter, and both contain raisins. I used to make both, regularly, and never heard them called sad cakes. My Chorley cakes, like my mother's before me, were always plate sized and cut into "pie slices" before being buttered.

I though Eccles Cakes were made using a type of puff pastry, whereas Sad Cake was ordinary pie crust pastry

[West Ender]

Originally Posted by Barrie Yates

I though Eccles Cakes were made using a type of puff pastry, whereas Sad Cake was ordinary pie crust pastry

So Sad cake is Chorley cake.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Historically sultanas were not used in sad cakes.......it was always currants.
And the pastry was off cuts which had been rolled many times so it wasn't as 'short' as Chorley cakes.
Extra rolling makes the pastry tough.....edible but tough.
Chorley cakes tend to be small individual size, but true sad cake is about the size of a dinner plate.
I have been known to use mixed fruit or sultanas when I have made sad cakes....and I have never made pastry just to make sad cakes it has always been off cuts.

[West Ender]

I never made a Chorley cake unless I had pastry left over from pies etc. so I think we're talking more or less the same thing. I didn't use currants, though, only raisins.

The off-cuts from pies were, when my children were young, the bits that they made into a jam tart "for daddy". The pastry was rolled and stretched around until it was grey, usually fashioned into a vaguely round shape with a depression in the middle, filled with jam or similar and put in the oven along with the pies. It would emerge dark brown with black edges, the jam having bubbled out over the sides, and be presented to daddy who, brave man that he was, always ate it and said how lovely it was.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Yes, the children and pastry thing was something that we did too.
Dads have to eat what their children have made them......with love, however unpalatable it might look.
I am not sure that many mothers bake today........I cannot buy frozen pastry.......I just cannot see that it is right(I know I am sad)......I much prefer to make my own, the same with batter for pancakes and yorkshire puddings.

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Thankyou Retlaw for furthering my education, I thought that they might be something along those lines, but wasn't sure.

I know Nuttall Street quite well.....it was not far from there that I spent my formative years.
We used to go to Harry Booths butchers, and of course the Co-op grocer and greengrocers.... Mc Cartneys selling out shop,Bob Wilkinsons ironmongers shop as well, but strangely I cannot remember a chemists being along there.

All that area I'm referring to was facing towards the bottom of South St, on the last bit before you get to Wellington St. There was a French Polishers shop on there as well as Dicky Scent. What you are refering to was further up, the Co-op was on the corner with Edmund St. Thorpes Greengrocery was 1/2 way along the left hand side, next to joiners shop, between Royds St, and Edmund St.
Retlaw.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Yes, the children and pastry thing was something that we did too.
Dads have to eat what their children have made them......with love, however unpalatable it might look.
I am not sure that many mothers bake today........I cannot buy frozen pastry.......I just cannot see that it is right(I know I am sad)......I much prefer to make my own, the same with batter for pancakes and yorkshire puddings.

When I was a kid I spent a lot of time at my friend's house down the road. Her mum was a proper mumsy sort of mum, always rustling up cakes and pies - especially in summer.

A few years ago I phoned her up for the recipe for blackberry pie, just to check how she made it. She said, 'just get some frozen pastry, put the clean blackberries in, add sugar and bake'. I said, 'I'm shocked, all these years I thought you were a fabulous baker and I didn't realise you were a big cheat'. She laughed and said 'well, I'm not mad!'.

Ironically now, I discover that my mum always starts from scratch these days.

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Historically sultanas were not used in sad cakes.......it was always currants.
And the pastry was off cuts which had been rolled many times so it wasn't as 'short' as Chorley cakes.
Extra rolling makes the pastry tough.....edible but tough.
Chorley cakes tend to be small individual size, but true sad cake is about the size of a dinner plate.
I have been known to use mixed fruit or sultanas when I have made sad cakes....and I have never made pastry just to make sad cakes it has always been off cuts.

That is exactly as I remembered, Chorley and Eccles cakes were much smaller - 3" or so diameter, but sadcake was dinner plate size. I also suffered with a smile as I ate the efforts of 3 sons but that proved to be a worthwhile sacrifice as they are all very competent cooks now.