The Eccles cake is a round, flattened bun of buttery puff pastry filled with Corinth raisins mixed with sugar, butter and spices. It is topped with two or three slashes through which the dark filling shows, and a layer of sugar that becomes crisp in the oven.
The name comes from Eccles, a town now part of Salford in Greater Manchester. Fruit-pastry cakes and sweets were sold there at parish festivals, the wakes, associated with St Mary’s church. The first shop sale on record is attributed to James Birch, who is said to have started selling the buns at the end of the 18th century on a corner in the town centre. The cook Elizabeth Raffald of Manchester published a similar recipe in the 18th century, and it is not certain who made the very first.
In the 19th century other shops in the town began to compete for the title of original Eccles cake, and the bun’s reputation spread across northern England. Today it is sold throughout the United Kingdom.
It is eaten at afternoon tea, warm or cold, and in Lancashire it is often served with a slice of Lancashire cheese on the side.