Lardy Cake is an English tea bread made with a soft, enriched dough and filled with sugar, spices and dried fruit. It is also referred to as lardy bread, lardy Johns, and fourses cake, depending on the region. Lardy cake, according to a number of sources, originated from Wiltshire, in the south west region of the UK. Fourses cake and Lardy Johns are from Sussex.
Lien (Notitie van Lien’s) chose Lardy Cake as the December bread for the Bread Baking Babes (BBBs) and Buddies. This tea bread is traditionally made with lard, but Lien found a more modern version made with butter.
The instructions were a bit perplexing so I did some research to make sure I understood how to fold and shape the dough. Lien’s description of caramelized sugar oozing out of the dough appealed to me, but I couldn’t quite get the picture of the folding. The perfectionist got the better of me so I went in search of more information.
As I was searching for the origins and instructions on how to make this bread, I happened upon Paul Hollywoods’s Lardy Cakes on the BBC. One version is made the traditional way using lard. I really liked his instructions for incorporating the filling and folding the dough. I almost made that lardy cake (with butter not lard) until I saw his other version. This version is twisted to form a crown. The crown shape did it for me.
This Lardy Cake Crown is just lovely and would make a wonderful presentation for any table. It tastes especially good with coffee or tea for breakfast or afternoon, or both.
Modern Lardy Cake Crown
Adapted from: (“Warm Bread and Honey Cake” by Gaitri Pagrach-Chandra) & Lardy Cake Crown by Paul Hollywood
Makes: One Loaf
Dough
- 375 g bread flour
- 1 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
- 1 T raw sugar
- 3/4 tsp. sea salt
- 35 g (2 1/2 T) butter, melted and cooled
- ± 200 ml almond milk, warmed
Filling
- 85 g (6 T) butter, softened
- 75 g soft dark brown sugar
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon (or a pinch more)
- ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (or a pinch more)
- 75 g currants or raisins (or a mix of dried fruit)
Equipment: I used a tube pan to bake this bread. You can also use an 8-inch round springform pan. I recommend placing a baking sheet underneath the pan or lining it with parchment paper, otherwise the caramelized sugar oozes out the bottom. Ask me how I know.
Method:
I made this dough by hand, but you can use a stand mixer if you prefer.
1. Whisk together the dry dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the melted butter and warm milk and mix with a Danish dough whisk or a large wooden spoon until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth and supple. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a clean bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This could take anywhere from 2 – 4 hours depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press it out flat with your fingers, then using a rolling pin, roll it out to a rectangle, about 20x8in.
4. Brush the softened butter over two thirds of the dough. Sprinkle the sugar over the butter, then cover the sugar with the raisins or dried fruit. Fold the uncovered section over to the center of the dough, then fold the other third on top.
| 5. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle. Then roll the dough into a long log, starting at the long edge furthest away from you. Cut down the entire length of the log to form two long strips and reveal the fruit inside. | | |
6. Hold the pieces at each end and twist tightly together, moving your hands in opposite directions. I didn’t quite get this part so I formed a 2-strand braid instead of twisting it.
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| | 7. Coil the twisted dough together into a circle and press the ends firmly together. Place the crown into the prepared pan. Let it proof until it reaches the top of the pan. This will take approximately 1½ hours. The dough will reach the top of the pan if you use an 8in springform pan. I used a large tube pan so it didn’t reach the top of the pan, but it was doubled in size. 8. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. and grease a tube pan or an 8in springform pan with butter. Place the tube pan or the springform pan on top of a rimmed baking sheet to keep all of the yummy caramelized sugar from leaking on the oven floor. Trust me on this one. 9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden-brown. 10. Remove loaf to a wire rack to cool. Many thanks to Lien for choosing Lardy Cake for the BBBs and Buddies to bake this month. It’s a delightful bread and not really hard to make once you understand the instructions. I went shopping while it was proofing so the timing worked out great. 
This loaf has also been Yeastspotted. Happy Baking! Cathy
These Cheesy Sourdough Spelt Popovers turned out to be pleasant surprise. 
We were charged with making sourdough popovers this month for the Sourdough Surprises baking group. I wasn’t sure if I would have time to participate until I found out how easy they are to make. If you are looking for a savory roll recipe that’s easy to make during this busy season, might I suggest these sourdough popovers? They don’t require any special equipment and they can be made in about 45 minutes from start-to-eating. These popovers have good texture and taste. The parmesan and pepper provide a nice burst of flavor without overpowering the essence of the roll. Serve these popovers for dinner along with your favorite meal or enjoy them for breakfast for a savory alternative to sweet rolls or muffins. Cheesy Sourdough Spelt Popovers Note: These popovers are made with sourdough and spelt so they have a different texture than popovers made with regular white bread flour. They are yummy nonetheless. Inspired and Adapted from: Makes: 6 Popovers Ingredients: - 1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sourdough Spelt starter, fed or unfed
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste
- 1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup All-Purpose White Spelt Flour
Directions: 1) Warm the milk until it feels just slightly warm to the touch. 2) Combine the warm milk with the eggs, sourdough starter and salt, crushed pepper and parmesan, then mix in the flour. Don't over-mix; a few small lumps will be fine. The batter should be thinner than a pancake batter, about the consistency of heavy cream. 
3) Heat a muffin or popover pan in the oven while it's preheating to 450°F. 4) Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven, and spray it thoroughly with non-stick pan spray, or brush it generously with oil or melted butter. Quickly pour the batter into the cups, filling them almost to the top. If you're using a muffin tin, fill cups all the way to the top. Space the popovers around so there are empty cups among the full ones; this leaves more room for expansion. 
5) Bake the popovers for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven heat to 375°F and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, until popovers are golden brown. 
6) Remove the popovers from the oven and serve immediately. 
These popovers are so easy, they are a good fuss-free bread to serve for a Holiday Dinner or a weeknight meal during the Holidays. Happy Baking! Cathy 
The bread of the month (BOM) for the Artisan Bread Bakers is an adaptation of one of Jeffrey Hammelman’s breads. The BOM version includes raisins and hazelnuts, but I didn’t have any hazelnuts so I used walnuts. I really enjoy cranberries and walnuts together in bread so I also substituted craisins for the raisins. 
I’ve made white breads and mixed grain loaves with cranberries and walnuts before, and I really enjoy them but this time, I wanted to change things up a bit. I used all-purpose spelt instead of bread flour and whole grain spelt instead of whole wheat flour. I also added about10% home-milled rye flour to round out the flavor. For this experiment, I had the opportunity to taste test VitaSpelt Whole Spelt Flour. Purity Foods graciously sent me some samples of their whole grain flour and Spelt Berries to bake with. I already use (and enjoy) their all-purpose white Spelt so I was only to happy to try some of their other products. 
Spelt & Rye Loaves with Cranberries & Walnuts Adapted from: Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hammelman. Makes: 2 Loaves | Ingredients | Weight/Volume | Baker’s % | | All-Purpose White Spelt Flour | 475 g | 52% | | All-Purpose Whole Grain Spelt Flour | 343 g | 38% | | Whole Grain Rye Flour | 90 g | 10% | | Water, lukewarm | 555 g | 61% | | Salt | 17 g (~1 T) | 2% | | Yeast | 4 g | | | Walnuts, roasted & coarsely chopped | 136 g (1 cup) | 15% | | Craisins | 136 g (scant cup) | 15% | Method: 1. Place the craisins in a glass or bowl and cover them with boiling water (do not discard the water). Soak the craisins for 15 to 20 minutes. 2. In the meantime, roast the walnuts in a pan on top of the stove until golden and fragrant. Roughly chop the nuts. 3. Drain the craisins. Reserve the craisin water for use in the dough. You will need to add more water. Note: Because I used Spelt, I used less water than the original formula. I ended up with about 110 g of water when I drained the craisins. I reserved this amount in a separate measuring cup. Then I measured out 471 g of additional water in a different measuring cup. I used all but about 26 g of the water I had measured for a total of 555 g. You may need more or less water depending on the type of flour used. 4. Add the flours, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Combine with a dough whisk. 5. Add the water gradually while mixing on first speed to incorporate the dough. Mix for three minutes on first speed, then increase to second speed and mix for an additional three minutes. 6. Since Spelt is picky about being over mixed, I incorporated the nuts and raisins by hand. If you are using bread flour and whole wheat flour, you can use the stand mixer to incorporate the nuts and raisins. 7. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and allow to ferment for two hours, folding the dough after one hour.
8. Shape into round or oblong loaves and proof for 70 minutes. I shaped one oval and one round loaf.
9. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. about 30-45 minutes before you plan to bake the bread. Place a baking stone on the bottom rack and a steam pan underneath or a cast iron skillet on the top shelf while the oven is preheating.
10. Carefully remove the proofed loaves from the bannetons (onto parchment paper or a baking peel). Score the loaves using the pattern of your choice. I used different scoring patterns and lames for each loaf. I used a straight-scoring lame on the round loaf and a curved lame on the oval loaf. 11. Slide the loaves (on the parchment paper) onto the preheated baking stone. Add hot water to the steam pan or 3 or 4 ice cubes to the cast iron skillet. Spritz the walls of the oven with water. Immediately close the door. Bake the loaves for about 35 minutes. The breads might darken fast due to the craisin water, so watch them closely and reduce oven temp if necessary. 12. Remove the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving. These loaves are slightly nutty and chewy and very flavorful. The bread tastes great warm with butter or toasted for breakfast or a snack. I enjoyed baking with the VitaSpelt from Purity Foods. I appreciate the opportunity to test it and look forward to experimenting with it some more. Happy Baking! Cathy
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