Recipe: Banbury Cakes

Banbury Cakes: ovals of puff pastry filled with spiced dried fruits, and distinctively bearing three slits in the top. They originated in the Oxfordshire region of England and have been made since at least the year 1586.

Ingredients

• 1 cup currants
• 1/2 cup green tea
• splash of vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons minced candied ginger
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 sheet Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, defrosted
• 1 egg

Directions

Place the currants, tea, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and brown sugar into a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Chill.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Lay the puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 6 rectangles. Roll each out just a bit, until 1 inch wider in each direction.

Divide the currant mixture among the rectangles, placing each dollop into the center of the dough.

One by one, bring the long sides of the rectangle up to meet each other; pinch to seal. Trim the corners off each end of the dough. Fold the dough up and pinch it to seal, forming an oval-shaped pastry.

Beat the egg. Flip the pastry over, and brush with the egg wash.

Take a pair of scissors and snip 3 diagonal slits into the top of the pastry.

Place the pastry onto the prepared baking sheet, and repeat with remaining dough and filling.

Bake for 20 minutes, until the pastries are golden and the filling is just bubbling. Let cool.

Makes 6 small (4-inch) pastries.

This recipe was written by Mary Bilyeu and originally posted on AnnArbor.com on June 16, 2011.