Lardy Cake

A very traditional recipe from SW England - lardy cake is *not* for those on diets! It is a sort of layered dough cake thing with a sticky, crunchy glaze on the bottom. It seems to be similar to Cornish heava cakes. This recipe comes from "Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook" and calls for large amounts of "white vegetable fat". I've always made this with lard (pork fat) purely because of it being called "LARDy cake" Strong white flour is whatever you'd use to make bread with - if I've got it right, it should contain more gluten than ordinary cake flour. Cooking time includes rising times.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Yields: 1 9x12 loaf

Ingredients

• for the dough

• 1  lb strong white flour
•  extra white flour, for dusting
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1  ounce caster sugar
• 1 (1/4ounce) packet fast-rising active dry yeast
• 1⁄2 ounce  lard
• 10  fluid ounces  tepid water
•  oil, for greasing

• for the filling

• 3  ounces  lard
• 2  ounces butter
•  extra butter, for greasing
• 8  ounces  mixed dried fruit (currants, raisins, sultanas, candied peel)
• 3  ounces light muscovado sugar

• for the glaze

• 1  tablespoon caster sugar
• 1  tablespoon boiling water

Directions

1. Mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a bowland rub in the lard.
2. Make a well in the middle and pour in the water, bit by bit- mix to a soft dough.
3. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
4. Place in an oiled bowl& cover with oiled clingfilm; Leave to rise for about 1 hours or until doubled in size.
5. Turn out onto a floured surface and roll out to a rectangle about 1/4 in thick.
6. Dot the surface with about 1/3 each of the lard, butter, dried fruit and sugar.
7. Fold into three, bringing one end up and the other end down (or to the left and right) Seal the edge to trap the air and then give the dough a quarter turn.
8. Repeat with the remaining fat, fruit and sugar.
9. Lightly butter a 9in by 12 in roasting tin, lightly roll out hte dough to fit and place the dough in the tin.
10. Cover with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise until doubled in size (about 30 mins).
11. Score the top of the dough in a criss-cross pattern and bake in a preheated oven at gas mark 6/200 degC/400degF for about 30 mins until well risen and golden brown.
12. Leave to cool in the roasting tin for about 10 mins- this is to let the cake soak up the sugar/fat mixture that will have run out.
13. Dissolve the caster sugar in the boiling water& brush on top of the loaf.
14. Eat when cool.