Eccles cakes and Lancashire cheese

So Scott went to St John recently and had Eccles cakes and Lancashire cheese.

I'd forgotten how obsessed we were when we first tried them,
so decided to take the plunge and make my own.

You make a basic pastry with grated mararine, flour and salt...
chill it, then roll it out into circles.

The filling is made from currants, candied peel, orange zest,
sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. It smells very Christmassy when you warm it up.

So you add a teaspoom of the filling to the pastry and seal in inside,
before turning over and cutting 3 slits in the top.

When you bake them in the oven, the filling oozes out and the currants get caramelised.

And more importantly, here they are with some crumbly
Kirkham's Lancashire Cheese.

So. Good.

Easter hot cross buns

I've never made hot cross buns, so thought I would
give it a go on Easter Monday.

I consulted Delia and here's what happened...

It's basically like making bread as you have to let the dough
rise twice, but what I thought would be a complicated

process is actually suprisingly simple.

The key ingredients are the ground mixed spice,

cinnamon, nutmeg, currants and candied peel, all of which give

the buns that sweet but slightly bitter, tangy taste.

Once you've let the dough rise for an hour or so, you knead it

again, divide the mixture up into 12 round buns, score a cross on the

top, cover, and leave to rise for another half hour.

Meanwhile, the best bit... making the crosses, which are a flour

and water paste, rolled out and cut into strips.

So cook them in a hot oven for 20 mins or so, and make a

glaze from granulated sugar and hot water...

Once they're cooked, brush them with the glaze and they're done!

I like them cut in half, toasted under the grill, spread with butter

and placed strategically near a Jack Wills mug.

Yum.