Eccles cake hamantaschen! A sweet, buttery, fruity filling encased in golden flaky pastry – classic British bake meets tasty Purim treat!
Purim inspiration?
Every year as Spring rolls around my thoughts turn to hamantaschen – those delicious three-cornered pastries traditionally enjoyed on the Jewish festival of Purim.
I really like creating new and different variations on the classic treat, whether they are sweet and crunchy like my fortune cookie hamantaschen, or deliciously savoury like my fabulous pizzataschen, which are perfect Purim party fare.
But this year I found myself at a bit of a loss. My inspiration had dried up and my creative juices just weren’t flowing. What to do?
Do something else!
As so often happens, by setting the problem aside and getting on with something else, the answer was encouraged to come forward!
We were in the North, visiting my daughter Kipper’s Grandparents for a few days. Inevitably, we spent a fair amount of time driving between DH’s parents’ house and my Mum’s house. As we circumnavigated the M60 for the umpteenth time, I noticed the sign for the exit to Eccles and Irlam. That was it!
The Eccles cake hamantaschen was born.
Eccles cakes – a British classic
Have you ever had an Eccles cake? My Mum used to make them a lot when I was younger. They’re super easy to do and very, very delicious. Plus, as they’re packed with currants and other dried fruit, you can probably claim they count towards your five-a-day. What’s not to love?!
Eccles cakes traditionally hail from the town of Eccles, near Manchester. They consist of a dried fruit filling encased in flaky pastry, usually topped with a sprinkling of sugar. The fruity, buttery treats have been sold in Eccles since 1793!
Of course these fabulous Eccles Cake Hamantaschen also enabled me to indulge my sometime hobby of creating British-Jewish food hybrids. (See Chelsea Bun babka, Chanukah mince pies, and Hot Magen David Buns for more examples.)
Ingredients in Eccles cake hamantaschen
To make a batch of deliciously fruity, sweet and buttery Eccles cake Hamantaschen, you will need the following ingredients:
- Butter or margarine
- Currants
- Raisins or sultanas (golden raisins)
- Chopped candied peel
- Brown sugar
- Readymade puff pastry
- Milk, plant-based milk, or egg wash for glazing
- A little extra sugar for sprinkling (optional)
How to make Eccles cake hamantaschen
Eccles cakes are made by enclosing the buttery, curranty filling inside a circle of flaky pastry. The pastry edges are gathered up over the filling to give the Eccles cake a round shape, then it’s turned over so that the ‘join’ is on the bottom. This gives the finished Eccles cake a nice, smooth top.
Making Eccles cake hamantaschen was a simple matter of changing the shape from round to triangular – to represent the villainous Haman’s pointy ears or three-cornered hat, depending on who you ask.
To make Eccles cake hamantaschen I also started off with a dollop of filling on top of a circle of pastry. However I folded up the sides in the usual way for making hamantaschen, to give a triangular shape.
Eccles cake hamantaschen – which way up?
I experimented a little with having the seam uppermost, as in a standard hamantaschen, or underneath, as in a standard Eccles cake.
In the end, seam down worked best. Do your utmost to seal thoroughly – you can patch any holes with scraps of pastry, they won’t be seen anyway! – but don’t worry too much about leaking. Any sugary juices that sneak out during baking will simply create a delicious sticky, caramelised layer on the bottom of your Eccles cake hamantaschen.
‘Ordinary’ Eccles cakes
Since Purim only lasts for a few days, it’s a shame to miss out on Eccles cakes the rest of the year. So you are completely at liberty to use this recipe to make standard round Eccles cakes on the other 363 days!
Makes 12-14 hamantaschen. Chag Purim Sameach!
If you like the ‘nosh!’ platter in the photo, you can get one here.
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Eccles cake hamantaschen
Ingredients
- 35 g butter or margarine
- 75 g currants
- 25 g raisins
- 25 g chopped candied peel
- 25 g brown sugar
- 250 g readymade puff pastry
- Milk, plant-based milk, or egg wash for glazing
- A little extra sugar for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or a nonstick liner.
- Melt the butter or margarine. Add the currants, raisins, candied peel and brown sugar and mix well, then set aside to cool.
- On a well-floured surface roll out the puff pastry until 2-3mm thick. Use a 9cm (3½ inch) round cutter to cut out circles from the pastry.
- Brush a little milk/plant milk/egg around the edge of a circle of pastry, then spoon about 1½-2 teaspoon of filling into the centre. Fold up the edges to create a triangle shape, pinching and pressing the pastry well to seal. If there are any gaps, use a small offcut of pastry to patch it up. Place the hamantaschen seal-side-down on a lined baking tray and press lightly to flatten.
- Continue with the remaining pastry and filling. You can re-roll the offcuts by layering them up and then rolling – don’t squash into a ball or you will lose the flaky layers.
- When all the pastry and filling is used up, brush each hamantaschen with milk/plant milk/egg and sprinkle with sugar if using. Cut a small slit in the top of each one to allow steam to escape while baking.
- Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15-18 minutes until risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- Serve warm or cold. Great in lunchboxes!
Nutrition
More delicious Purim recipes
If you want something more traditional, try my classic poppy seed hamantaschen buns. For something more savoury, take a look at mini pizza hamantaschen.
Or to browse all of my Purim recipes in one place, click here.
Angela
The filling is so tasty!
Helen
Thanks Angela! I love it too 🙂
Kathryn Donangelo
These sound soooo delicious and I love the ingredients used- I always have them so I can make these treats any time. Thank you!
Helen
Yay! Store cupboard ingredients FTW!
Kate
Oh this is such a lovely idea – I love Eccles cakes and this is a brilliant twist on the classic. Delicious!
Helen
Thanks Kate! So glad you like them!
Emily Flint
I’ve never had this treat before but I can’t wait to make it!!
Helen
Thanks Emily. I hope you enjoy them 🙂
Dannii
We eat a lot of eccles cakes round here, and I love this fusion version.
Helen
Thanks Dannii! Glad to find another Eccles cake fan!
Anca
I love this recipe and your inspiration. I’m doing a Taste the world challenge and I’m going to add hamantaschen to my list of things I should try.
Elana
Don’t be too upset with me but I wasn’t going to make any hamantaschen this year as I’m running out of time, but this is brilliant because I can hack it with the jar of mincemeat I have together with the readymade pastry you’ve put in the ingredient’s list. Chag Purim S’meach!!
Helen
I’ve made “mince pie hamantaschen” before – nothing wrong with that at all!! Happy Purim! ?
Kavita Favelle
Your creative juices are still flowing after all! Lovely idea to combine Eccles cakes with hamantaschen for this new variation! Great fusion recipe, Helen!
Helen
Thanks Kavita! You know I love fusion cuisine ?
Rebecca - Glutarama
I ADORE Eccles Cakes and really miss them since going dairy and egg free, despite this I simply had to click on your recipe to torture myself…but actually, now I see how simply these can be made you’ve inspired me to make them in a way that I can eat them too. Thank you for the inspiration.
Helen
The ones in the photos are dairy and egg free! I used parve (vegan) readymade pastry and vegan margarine. They’re glazed with oat milk. I hope you enjoy them!
Choclette
Love this idea Helen. I was never particularly fond of Eccles cakes as a kid and I’m not sure I’ve had one since. But I suspect I’d love them now. I know I’d love one of your Eccles cake hamantaschen. Who’d have thought inspiration could hit driving around on a motorway?
Helen
Thanks Choclette! I’m sure you’d love them – all buttery currants and flaky pastry, yum! Yes, I never expected the M60 to be a source of inspiration either, but I can’t complain 🙂
Elizabeth
Those sound absolutely amazing! I love reading all about the wonderful foodie traditions you have in your home. 🙂
Helen
Thanks Elizabeth! They are pretty yummy. It’s good to have ‘tradition’ as an excuse to make delicious treats!
jenny paulin
I have not had an Eccles cake in so many years. I would not even know where to buy one from anymore, as I don’t think they are as common in bakeries as they once were. I love your take on this classic bake and change its shape to fit the hamantaschen theme. I bet they tasted great.
than k you for linking to #Bakeoftheweek x
Helen
Thanks Jenny. Hopefully Eccles cakes are due a renaissance as they are so delicious!
Marsha
Very excited to find this recipe for my husband as he loves Eccles. I am wondering if the finished baked product can be frozen. Looking forward to your reply.
Helen
Hi Marsha. I think these should freeze fine! You could probably also freeze them before baking, and then just bake one or two from frozen whenever you fancied a treat. I hope you enjoy them. All the best, Helen.
Sisley White
You recipes are so inspiring. I have to make these!
Helen
You won’t regret it Sisley! They are super yummy 🙂