Banbury cakes

Makes 8

200g chilled unsalted butter, plus

20g melted butter

200g strong flour, plus extra for dusting

1 egg, separated

1 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra to sprinkle 100ml cold water

1 tbsp honey

100g dried mixed fruit

40g light brown sugar

1 tsp grated nutmeg

1 tsp ground cinnamon sea salt baking paper 8cm fluted round pastry cutter

Place the chilled butter between two sheets of baking paper and hit with a rolling pin to make a 15cm square slab. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, egg yolk and caster sugar with the cold water. Bring the mixture together in the bowl with one hand, kneading for 1-2 mins until it is a smooth dough.

Dust a clean kitchen surface with flour and roll the dough to a 15 x 45cm rectangle. Place the slab of butter in the middle of the dough and fold one side of the dough over it, then follow with the other side. Turn the dough 90° so the folds are facing the front edge of the work surface, then roll the pastry into another rectangle the same size as before and fold in the same way to make a square. Roll out again into a rectangle and repeat the folding process. Wrap the pastry in an airtight wrap and leave to chill for 1 hr.

In the meantime, in a bowl, mix together the honey, dried mixed fruit, brown sugar, melted butter, nutmeg and cinnamon. Season with a pinch of salt. Leave to stand for 1 hr.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6. On a surface dusted with flour, roll out the pastry dough into a circle of approximately 30cm. Using the pastry cutter, cut out 12 circles. Roll out the remaining pastry off-cuts and cut out 4 more circles. Place 8 rounds on a large flat oven tray, then divide the fruit filling between the circles, leaving a 1cm border on each.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg white for 1 min with a fork. Brush the borders of the filled circles with the egg white, then top with the remaining pastry circles, pressing them down to fix around the edges. Cut three lines into the top of each pastry with a sharp knife, then brush all the tops with the remaining egg white and sprinkle with the extra caster sugar.

Bake the cakes for 15-20 mins until risen and golden. Allow to cool slightly, then serve.

“Ben Jonson writes of the Banbury Puritan, a baker and cake-maker, as having ‘undone a grocer here, in Newgate market, that broke with him, trusted him with currants, as arrant a zeal as he’” Alfred Beesley, The History of Banbury