Fig sly cake

Name: Fig sly cake
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 25 g caster sugar; 40 g chopped walnuts; 75 g chopped cooked figs; 10 g raisins; 25 g currants; 1 egg yolk, beaten with water to make 50 ml; pinch of salt; 50 g caster sugar; 1 egg yolk, beaten with water to make 50 ml; 250 g plain flour; 100 g butter

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Clarissa's Comfort Food

By Clarissa Dickson Wright

Published 2008

About

I really don’t know why these are called ‘sly’ cakes. The Cumberland and Lancashire versions are made with rum, which dates them back to the 17th century and West Indian trading. Since I stopped drinking I’ve started making this version of the cakes, using dried figs, which I have resuscitated in boiling water.

Ingredients

For the Pastry

250 g plain flour
100 g butter
50

Europe
United Kingdom
Dessert
Cake
London
Vegetarian

Method

Mix the pastry ingredients together to make a stiff dough. Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/245°F/gas mark 7. Roll out the pastry into two thin rounds.

To make the filling mix all the ingredients together. Place the mixture on one ro