FOR more than 200 years, the Eccles Cake has been one of Britain's best-loved teatime delicacies.
But the traditional treat faces a flaky future after being barred by the country's biggest High Street bakers.
Greggs has removed the buttery currant cake from sale at its 1,200 outlets because it claims people today prefer their pastry to be Danish.
The firm has even stopped selling the cakes in its Eccles branch, on the same street where the first Eccles Cakes were sold by baker James Birch in 1796.
Cake connoisseurs are outraged and say the disappearance of the Lancashire speciality is another nail in the coffin for regional diversity in the British diet.
Top chef Robert Owen Brown, who includes Eccles Cakes on the dessert menu at his fashionable Manchester restaurant, The Bridge, said he was "disgusted".
"I can hardly believe this," he said. "Eccles Cakes are traditional, regional food and I think it is a big mistake to stop selling them, especially in Eccles.
"It's like going to Melton Mowbray and finding the butcher doesn't sell pork pies."
Ian Edmonds, of Ardwick-based Lancashire Eccles Cakes Ltd, said his firm makes 600,000 a week and sells them as far afield as the US, Germany and Spain.
"Our business is thriving," he said. "We have been making Eccles Cakes for generations and we've never been busier. I don't understand at all."
Mr Edmonds has contributed his family recipe, right, in case Greggs have a change of heart.
The first Eccles Cakes were sold by James Birch at his bakery on Church Street in Eccles. A blue plaque marks the location, which is now a furniture shop.
Greggs, which started as a family bakery in the north east before expanding into nearly every British town, said it had stopped selling them because customers no longer wanted them.
A spokesman said: "We were getting much more demand for other products, such as muffins and chocolate slices. Greggs would definitely consider re-introducing Eccles Cakes if demand rose again."
Cynthia Entwistle, from The Larder bakery on Church Street, said: "They are still very popular here, we had a lady in from Newcastle who bought a bag because they taste so much better when they're from Eccles."
What do you think of Eccles cakes? Have your say.
Tweet
Comments
Login or Register to comment
I cannot believe that any baker worthy of the title could think of stopping production of mouth watering, delicious eccles cake. They simply melt in the mouth.
Are they mad? Nothing compares with the taste, the flavour the absolute delight of Lancashires own eccles cakes.
On holday last year in Manchester I couldn't get enough of them. If the aussies had the secret I would never venture from these shores again. Well maybe now and again.
Oh Peter ..I agree with you wholeheartedly ....our grandaughter has just returned from a trip to Manchester and bought us back a packet of those delicious Eccles cakes ...If you could have seen the delight on our faces when we had our first taste of those real Lancashire delights after 40yrs ...WOW !! That mob must be barmy ..It will be their loss and somebody elses gain !!! Audrey and Dave Graham
The answer is simple. If you are proud of your Lancashire heritage and traditions, don't shop at Greggs. And let them know why.It's their loss.
We too are disgusted at the Eccles Cake saga by Greggs...never thought much of their stuff anyway when we are over there. We're usually in Hampsons..Sounds like Greggs are pandering, for whatever reason, to Brussels!
We have a couple of great Eccles Cakes in our fridge right now, waiting to be devoured, with a cuppa tea. They have been made here by a Brit, together with Meat & Potato pies, (Not potato and meat!!! as per Brussels' demands in UK). He does other pies and custards, exactly as we would enjoy in UK..His recipes are 'spot on'.
So to heck with Greggs, folks, get down to the other bakeries and enjoy Eccles Cakes.
ps. We lived in Eccles from l959 to l969,(Lancs.County Policeman) and loved visiting the quaint old building of the Original Eccles Cake and are sorry to learn that it no longer exists only as a furniture store.
Well this simply beggers belief, well I can do my bit by contacting Greggs and telling them what I think of them and certainly will not buy their products.
How can they kill off a national product in favour of a Danish.
How could you think of not making these wonderful treats? When I go home to England, it's the first thing I look for. We should all rise up in rebellion and protest this outrage.....
Pauline in the USA
Oh please don't give up the Eccles Cakes!! That's an English Tradition. Here on Vancouver Island, BC. Canada, the population in this small community is very English. We love our Eccles cakes and although the local bakeries try hard, they are never quite the same as the "real ones back home".
We all look forward to a holiday in England for a "proper Eccles Cake". Visitors from England are requested to bring two items in their suitcases - Eccles Cakes, and a bag of English Crisps. How on earth can they say people prefer Danish Pastries?(That's what the Americans eat for Breakfast). There is no comparison between an Eccles Cake and a Danish Pastry.
Just keep those wonderful, flaky, delicious Eccles Cakes coming.
C. Proctor
Qualicum Beach, BC. Canada
why should they do such a stupid thing, Eccles Cakes are synonymus with Lancashire and should have preference over Danish style cakes, I buy them regularly its like saying there should be no more Lancashire hotpot.
What will people do to cure constipation now?
If only Gregg's would remove their sausage rolls from the menu instead of the much enjoyed and respected Eccles Cake. Then maybe we would all be spared the sight of all the trailer trash shuffling around our shopping precincts in their shell suits, tatty dirty trainers and the obligatory ankle chain whilst pushing their hideous baby buggies which are now the size of Churchill tanks and are used as such to barge into innocent shoppers with their babies on board who are similarly dressed as the trailer trash pushing them, slavering on Gregg's sausage rolls wrapped in their Gregg's paper bags for their breakfast, lunch and evening meals. Gregg's should take these off the menu and sell the recipe to the baby food manufacturers to sell pulped up in a tin to be eaten at home. We would all then benefit as we wouldn't have to see or dodge around the trailer trash or slip on the greasy paper bags which are just hurled out of these buggies by their scruffy urchins. Come on Gregg's keep the lovely Eccles Cake on the menu and sell off the recipe for the trailer trash's staple baby food and do us all a favour.
Henry dont forget you must always smoke cheap fags whilst consuming any of Greggs wares.
I also disagree that Greggs are consumed for breakfast dinner and tea. Surely it is a well known fact that these chavsters often feed their ever growing offspring on Macdonalds and Walkers crisps.
What a cheek Greggs have got barring the mighty Eccles cake. At least they don't stink shopping centres out like their pies, pasties & sausage rolls. The stench of these lingers in every shop you now enter to do your shopping with especially poor peoples clothing permanently ingrained with the smell of these delicacies as they waft past you on their window shopping expeditions. I to have noticed like Mr Piggot-Smythe the mess these people make of everywhere there's a Greggs in the area. My shopping experience would be greatly enhanced if the landlords of the properties they inhabit barred them like they have barred the Eccles cake and gave decent old fashioned bakers a chance to sell their wares. I wonder which cake they will set their sights on next to make more room on their shelves for their now infamous sausage rolls. Could it be that other all time favourite, the Chorley cake ?
Thank goodness we do not have a branch of greggs bakers in this area. Eccles cakes are the best thing to come from Lancashire since George Formby. Customers where there is a greggs shop should stand at their counters eating Eccles cakes brought from a proper bakers. By the way what is a Danish pastry?
Its ok for Everard, Tiara & Smythe two have ago about Greggs but i bet they havent got 6 kids like me to feed. Greggs pies & sausage rolls are great value for money when i'm busy out shopping for the kids on the market & shops. Who wants to feed there kids on eccles cakes which are horrible when you can get dead tasty pies & sausage rolls at Greggs & some chips off the van at the market to go with them. Its a good hot meal for growing kids when you are a single mum like me who cant afford to buy fresh food every day. If people saw me feeding my kids eccles cake everyday they would be complaining about that as well because they make you fat & rot your teeth. Men have no idea of how much food costs in the shops & the cost of the gas to cook it. I cant afford to buy proper cod fish fingers, bags of McCains chips & tins of peas, bread & margerine everyday to cook, how much do you lot think this costs for example ? Greggs is a great bakers & if they have banned horrible eccles cakes so what, no one eats them these days anyway. If you lot want eccles cakes why dont you just shut up & get off your bums & find a shop that sells them.
A Canadian lady at a farmer's market in St Andrews, Nova Scotia sells Eccles Cakes which she bakes according to a recipe given by her Lancashire father. I met her on a recent trip. She does a thriving trade --amazing!
They can't be that horrible if the recipe has been around for 200 years and is still going strong (I make 'em from time to time). Its a treat and not a meal by the way Donna. It's down to taste anyway, if you don't like 'em, you don't like 'em and that's that. I'm going to boycott Greggs, I can either make Eccles cakes or get them from any local shop. Will Greggs still sell Chorley cakes, or are they going to be banned aswell.
The first recorded recipe for the Eccles Cake is reputed to be in Mrs Raffold's book in 1769.
Elizabeth Raffold was the cook/housekeeper at Arley Hall and worked for the Warburton family for a number of years before marrying the Head Gardener and moving to Manchester.
Her recipe book was the first of its type and in its day, was as important and well known as Mrs Beaton's!
The very first recorded instance of the Eccles cake was during the time of The Crusades, the year being 1191 when Richard The Lionheart was besieging the port city of Acre. It is in fact an ancient Turkish dish which was named after one of Saladins generals Beha-ed-Dineccles. Due to its excellent properties of keeping fresh in hot weather, because of its high content of raisins and sultanas which were in plentiful supply it was an ideal food wrapped in pastry for the Muslims who were under siege in Acre. Towards the end of the siege with ammunition running low within Acre, Beha-ed-Dineccles men started throwing these at the Crusaders who noticed when they hit their shields and the ground they burst open to reveal the ingredients. The Crusaders who were running low on food started picking these up and eating them. They called them Eccles cakes after the general Beha-de-Dineccles and the recipe was brought back to England after The Crusades with lots of people through the years claiming it was they who invented the recipe, when in fact it is an old Turkish dish and not connected with the town of Eccles at all.
Considering I don't come from a country with no distinguishable national food, it is a shame to hear that the Eccles Cake is losing popularity. I mentioned to my Eccles friend Joe, that we have a coffee shop in town and it sells Eccles Cakes and they are quite popular. I quite like them. He sent me this article.
Whist on holiday in Izmir Turkey, what we thought were Eccles cakes were served at every buffet. We thought it was because we were English & never realised they're an old Turkish national dish until reading Prof Hampton's coments. I must say though they were the best we had ever tasted & didn't throw them at anyone. I had always thought like everyone else that they had originated from Eccles.
I recently bought a packet of four Lancashire Eccles Cakes whilst visiting York and found them absolutely scrumptious.
Danish cakes are totally different in taste and bear no comparison with the lovely buttery taste I experienced with Eccles.
I was searching the Internet hopefully to find an address which could tell me where in Leeds, particularly the Cookridge area, I can find them? Help!
Having heard about the plight of the Eccles cake last week, I was recently surprised to see them packaged as a "Product of Wales " !! Being Welsh I was surprised with this as we associate Wales with our Welsh Cake.
I wish any decent Mancunian bakehouse in Eccles or not would ship these tasty treats to Australia.....anyone, please. You CANNOT buy anything like them here and for expats and addicted Aussies it is a living hell
Hello,
I am the reporter who wrote the original story.
I am particularly interested in talking to Prof B Hampton about his comments.
If anyone reading this knows how I can get in touch with him please contact me by email or phone.
0161 789 5503
0161 832 7200
Rashid Razaq, Manchester Evening News. What's your email address ? I hope I'm not in trouble with the villagers of Eccles ?