Recipes

Monica’s Chester cake

Monica's Chester cake

Lilly Higgins's face
Lilly Higgins
Mon Mar 4 2024 - 04:00
Makes: 1
Course: Dessert
Cooking Time: 1 hr 45 mins
Prep Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
  • 480g plain flour
  • 300g cold butter, diced
  • 40g icing sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 340g good quality white bread, stale
  • 1 pot cold tea (chai, earl grey or normal)
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 90g plain flour
  • 225g brown sugar
  • 55g butter
  • 2tbs mixed spice
  • 225g sultanas
  • 2 eggs
  • 120ml milk
  • 2tbs marmalade
  • 200g icing sugar
  • Juice of a lemon
  1. First make the pastry. Place the flour and icing sugar in a bowl. Add the cubed cold butter and use a round bladed knife or your fingertips to rub the butter in. You can also do this quickly and easily in the food processor. Add the egg and mix to combine till it forms a smooth dough. Flatten into a disc and cover. Place in the fridge to rest for an hour.
  2. Cover the stale bread with the cold tea. Leave to soak for an hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
  4. Squeeze the bread dry by pressing the mixture in a sieve over the sink.
  5. Sift the flour with the baking powder, add the sugar. Rub in the butter and add the spices.
  6. Add sultanas to the bread and mix well. Turn into the flour mixture and combine well.
  7. Beat the eggs with the milk, add the marmalade and mix well with the bread.
  8. Roll one half of the pastry to fit into the buttered baking tin (a rectangular 20.5x 32cm). Prick the pastry base with a fork. Spread the bread mixture over the pastry. Cover with the remaining pastry and pinch the edges together to seal. Prick the top with a fork.
  9. Bake for one hour and 45 minutes until golden. Leave to cool.
  10. For the icing, mix the lemon juice with the sugar until thick. Add more icing sugar or hot water depending on how thick the icing is. Spread generously over the cake and slice once set.
Lilly Higgins

Lilly Higgins

Lilly Higgins, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a food writer

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