My lardy cake adventure began with a tiny cottage loaf.
I tweeted the photo below and asked my English friend Matthew if he’d eaten this style of bread as a child…
Matt replied that he’d actually grown up eating lardy cakes.
And after some discussion, I thought it might be fun to try making one. I remembered reading a recipe in Dan Lepard’s The Handmade Loaf…
Having previously had a bad experience with supermarket lard, I thought it might be worthwhile trying to make my own. After all, if I had a stash in the freezer, I might be able to make a slightly less ludicrous attempt at tamales.
Ideally, leaf lard (made from the fat surrounding the pig’s kidneys) should be used in sweet pastries, but the butcher told me that it’s a very difficult product to source in Australia. So I came home instead with a one kilo block of frozen free range female pork fat (which he insisted would be far less smelly than boar fat)…
I chopped up the fat and scraped it into my Emile Henry casserole pot with half a cup of water. The photos below show 300g of the pork fat being rendered. The pot was simmered very gently over a low heat until the pieces had crackled up and sunk to the bottom. The fat and solids were then poured through a Chux-lined sieve. The liquid lard was a light brown colour, but set to a snowy white in the fridge…
The following day, I attempted the lardy cake. I based it on Dan’s recipe, but I simplified the methodology a little, added currants and raisins, changed the spice, and used dried yeast instead of fresh…
- 500g bakers/bread flour
- 8g fine sea salt
- 200g active sourdough starter (Dan’s recipes use an 80% starter, so feed a small portion of starter with 100g bakers flour and 80g water)
- 250g water
- 1¼ teaspoons dried yeast
- 150g pork lard (cold from the fridge)
- 150g caster sugar
- dried fruit – I used a mix of currants and golden raisins
- pinch of cinnamon
- extra caster sugar for topping
1. Grease a 23cm springform cake tin, and line the base with parchment paper. Wrap the outside of the tin with foil to prevent leakage.
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the starter, water and dried yeast. Add the flour and salt, and squelch the whole lot together with a clean hand to form a fairly stiff dough. Scrape off your fingers and cover the bowl with clingfilm. Allow to rest for 15 minutes.
3. Uncover the dough and give it a quick knead in the bowl, working the dough until smooth. It should only take a couple of minutes. Cover the bowl again and allow to prove until doubled in size, about an hour.
4. This is the fun bit. Turn the dough onto a clean floured surface and using your fingers, press it into a rectangle. Smear the lard over two-thirds of the dough, then scatter 150g of caster sugar over the top. The photos are a bit dodgy from here on, as I was manoeuvring the iPhone camera with my un-larded hand…
5. Fold the uncoated third over the middle third, and then flip it over the remaining third to enclose all the lard and sugar. Carefully flatten the dough again with your fingers or a rolling pin, and fold it over itself in thirds again. The aim is to encase the lard and sugar, and to build up layers of dough. Now cover the dough and let it rest for half an hour or so.
6. Uncover the dough and roll it out into a rectangle. Be gentle, or the dough will tear and lard will ooze out everywhere. Scatter over the currants and raisins…
7. Roll the dough up, encasing the dried fruit, then cover and allow it to rest briefly…
8. Slash across the top of the dough, cutting about a third of the way into the log…
…then swirl the dough into a snail shape. Pick it up carefully and place it into the prepared cake tin. Cover and let it rise until it’s puffed up and well-risen, which should take about an hour…
9. After 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 200C or 190C with fan. When the dough is ready, sprinkle with a little cinnamon and scatter over a couple of tablespoons of caster sugar…
10. Bake the lardy cake in the oven for 20 minutes at 190C with fan, then reduce the temperature to 170C with fan and bake for a further 40 minutes or so until well browned. Keep a watchful eye on it, to ensure it doesn’t burn. Allow to rest in the tin for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
So what was the verdict?
Pete wasn’t a huge fan (he’s a butter man), but Big Boy adored it. So much so that he asked me to hide the last bit as he couldn’t stop eating it. I took half the cake to Kevin and Carol’s house that afternoon, where it was consumed with great gusto.
It’s not overly sweet, it’s not at all porky and it has an irresistibly crispy sugary topping. It reminds me a little of brioche, and a little of Portuguese sweet doughs.
Definitely an adventure, and one I’ll have to repeat when our friend Matthew comes over!
Perfecting the recipe: our further lardy cake adventures here…
Who knew that lardy cakes existed? You really get around, Celia. I’m more of a butter person than a lardy person but that’s because I can’t see my hind end in the mirror, I suppose.
Twitter really is a font of knowledge, Maureen! :) Somewhat counter-intuitively, I’ve read that lard is supposed to be better for us than butter!
I’ve heard of them, and I think I ate them as a kid, but my memory ain’t what it used to be :) But bravo for making it and it does look delicious!
Claire, thank you – it was quite the job. I hadn’t actually planned on rendering my own lard – I was hopeful the butcher might have already done that for me – but I was keen to avoid the stuff in the supermarkets which is gross (and also hydrogenated, I think). It really was delicious!
Hi Celia, That does sound like fun!!
I made Cornish pasties last winter and the pastry had lard in it. I tell you it was the best pastry I have ever tasted. I ran out of the pastry so I used some made with butter for the rest of the filling and you could really taste the difference. The lard pastry was better by far.
Glenda, I’m thinking empanandas next! :)
lovely Celia my husband said he used to have it as a kid but only the lard with out any flour or sugar or fruit but I will give this one a try
Linda, I hope he enjoys it! :)
You made your own lard.
Did you eat the chitlings that you rendered the lard from?
The cake looks delicious- but I think I will use lard from the store- that bowl full of square fried chitlings would be irresistible for me.
Heidi, is that what they’re called? I froze them as soon as I could to stop myself snacking on them! I’m not sure what I’ll do with them, but I think I had some savoury scone or loaf notion in my head. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks darling.. x
I’m another one who grew up on lardy cake – and look how nice I turned out!
It had very little dried fruit because this as war time and rationing. I don’t think it had as much sugar, either – same reason, I suppose.
The yeast came from the baker just up the street. The lard from the butcher (who had a smallholding and butchered his own meat).
Pat, it’s an interesting recipe – it’s tricky to bake something when you have no idea what the finished product is supposed to taste like. But it was worth all the effort, as it’s quite divine! :)
Both B and I ate this as children. Yours looks luxurious with all that gorgeous fruit! I have a guilty memory of stuffing big hunks of warm lardy cake straight from the paper bag on a cold winter’s day from the baker over the road where I lived in London, couldn’t move later. Good food if one is busy and active, like so many of these old fashioned treats :) xx
Joanna, thank you for holding my hand through the lard making over the weekend! :) I will have to think some more about the fruit, as the ones on top burnt – but hey, maybe they were supposed to? ;-)
I think if you use a different shaping method and keep the currants more or less enclosed they won’t burn. There are a variety of shapes as there are regional variations on lardy cakes. I think the ones we had from the baker’s were tray baked, layered and cut in squares, something like this http://freespace.virgin.net/lf.mackelden/Castle_Combe/lardy_cake.html
Thanks love, I’ll have a play around. I was also thinking of slicing the log into scrolls to make smaller ones, so Big Boy doesn’t make himself sick. :)
i was only looking at cooking lardy bread the other day but i was a bit worried about all the saturated fat but really it’s no worse than using butter..i love the look of the pure looking white fat spread on the dough and the finished loaf with the crunchy topping looks stunning..
Jane, there’s no way to argue this is a healthy dish, but I was really interested to read that lard has noticeably less saturated fat than butter. Have a look at the comparison table in this wiki article..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lard
I wanted to buy lard for my Christmas mince pie recipe. I couldn’t source it anywhere so just used butter. I should have gone with pork fat! I think your cake looks very special and you sure did go to a lot of trouble to try to do something authentic xx
Charlie, thank you, it was fun to make. I’m not sure how well lard rendering would go down in the kitchen with Arabella – maybe you could add it to your morning routine? ;-)
Lordy, or should I say Lardy, Celia! Such an interesting recipe and the cake really does look and sound delicious! We grew up having lard on fat slices of continental bread, so I am not opposed to it… however, like Maureen, I have concerns about the appearance of my rear end (and maybe gallstones), so butter and lard are off the menu for the most part ; )
Lizzy, it’s not health food, that’s for sure. But a real eye opener for me – I didn’t realise it would taste quite so good – the lardy things I’ve had in the past have always had a distinctly unpleasant taste. I wonder if that’s because the lard was the supermarket variety? I have to say the home rendered version was just gorgeous!
I love the name! This looks absolutely delicious.
Thanks Greg! Is there a tradition of cooking with lard in the South?
When we were in London last year I found a place that sold eccles cakes made with lard pastry. I went there twice in the 5 days we were in London and bought as many as I decently could. They were truly wonderful, but I’m pretty sure it’s just as well I don’t actually live anywhere near that shop or I’d be completely lard-arsed.
Darling, I nearly titled this post “Lard-Arsed Cake”, but thought better of it. :)
That looks amazing! Agree re supermarket lard. Ghastly stuff. Never thought about rendering my own. Might give it a go some day.
Mel, thank you – I’m going to render more lard and stash it in the freezer – I was really quite happy to use it. Surprisingly so, actually – I thought I’d be grossed out! :)
Celia how adventurous you are! I wouldn’t have known where to begin making lard but you make it look pretty easy.
Maybe it’s meant to be better for us because it’s more pure than butter or not as many steps to make it? The lard spread on dough looks like a rather nice face cream (I don’t think I’d be spreading it on my face though).
The finished loaf looks wonderful!
Claire, I love that you understand that it really WAS an adventure! The lard was lovely and soft and white, but the whole kitchen was an oil-slick by the time I was finished.. ;-)
Doesn’t lard make a gorgeous silky pastry Celia! Of course in the “old days” you didn’t waste a thing in the kitchen and lard, suet and smaltz are natural kitchen by-products that just happen to be so useful and tasty too! Beautiful looking cake sweetie, I bet it smelt and tasted wonderful indeed :) xox
Thanks Becca! I’m off to google “smaltz” now! :) xx
It’s basically rendered chicken fat Celia, tasty tasty chicken fat. Mmmmmmmm………..
Great one handed pics – they would have been not so easy to manage. The texture of that lardy cake looks divine, as I imagine the smell would have been. I’m so glad it wasn’s anywhere near me because I would have had no resistance to eating it all, unlike Big Boy who as a seasoned resident of your household would need to be regularly resourceful in moderating behaviours :)
ED, this was one of the times I was grateful for the screen protector on the iPhone. Big Boy has his mother’s weakness for this sort of fatty breaded product, so I think I need to make this recipe sparingly and keep it well hidden! :)
You are always doing something interesting and creative in your kitchen Celia :)
Jane, thank you – I had a rare weekend with no commitments, so it was great fun to be able to play! :)
wow. That lardy cake sounds fantastic. I’ve never eaten one… I don’t think. Incredibly bad for you – not that that would bother me really…
I wondered if it was something that was eaten in Wales, Nick! I’m sure there’s probably some equivalent dish though! :)
I’ve never eaten lardy cake but am now wondering why on earth not. I use half lard, half butter in my shortcrust pastry and made some soap using lard but always use bought lard though I do render pork fat for pork or rabbit rillettes.
Anne, I think you’d have fun with this recipe! And the one time I bought supermarket lard, I found it very gross and stinky, so I’m really pleased to have figured out that we can render our own! :)
Well done for making your own lard! It looks interesting :)
Tandy, I’m going to try making tamales next! :)
Oh you do some extraordinary things!
You know me Jo, I love a project.. ;-)
Interesting Celia… I’ll have to have another look at the recipe in Dan the Man’s book. I know my grandparents would be rather partial to a slice of this ;-)
Brydie, if you do make it, you’ll want to make your own lard, the supermarket stuff isn’t very nice. I hope you try it, it’s quite an adventure! :)
I have to stop by and say I can not believe you made your own lard!! That just blew me away. I’m from Manchester originally and for some reason I always thought lardy cakes were so called because they made you fat if you ate them. Which I guess is true. But this looks delicious and I imagine tastes even better. PS. My grandad used to eat lard butties – smeared on white bread and sprinkled with salt. True artery clogging material.
Nancy, as I mentioned to Amanda and Lizzy above, I was tempted to title this post “Lard-Arsed Cakes”.. :)
I feel much better about using home rendered lard than the commercial stuff which is hydrogenated, but I have to confess that Pete is quite grossed out by the whole thing.. ;-)
Wow, Celia, you never stop to amaze and inspire me! Making your own lard? That is so wonderful! Love the look of the bread!
Zirkie, thank you! It was all good fun! :)
You made your own lard. My gosh, Celia, you will kill me some day, I swear…
indeed, I also heard that lard is better than butter, but to be completely honest, I think that anything in moderation won’t harm you. All of a sudden everyone is wolfing down grains because “they are healthy”. and avoiding butter “because it’s evil”
well, well, well… where did common sense go?
(sorry, I won’t hijack your comment section with my venting… :-)
Vent away darling, because as usual, you’re right. :) xx
Learned something new again from your blog – Lardy Cake. Love that you make your own lard. Did you use the crackles for anything?
Norma, I’m on google now, looking up crackling cornbread recipes! At the moment, I’m just stashing all the crackling in the freezer.
I’ve not heard of this cake, Celia, but you’re always on the look-out for new things to bake. Sounds like this time your curiosity was rewarded with a great cake. Lard is supposedly making a comeback here but as you know, you have to be careful of what you buy. Making your own is one way to avoid the problems and seeing the process was interesting. Thanks for both the recipe and the “how to” on making lard. :)
John, it was remarkably easy to make the lard, and it’s remarkably ungross when it’s finished – snowy white and creamy. Does it feature at all in Italian cooking?
I just spoke with Zia, Celia, and asked whether lard was often used. She doesn’t recall too many specifics, other than using it in pie crusts and for frying. Although she agreed it could be used in baking, as you did here, she couldn’t remember anything in particular. I know this isn’t much help and I’ll bring it up again with her when I visit next. Stay tuned … :)
John, I have to admit I’ve never seen lard for sale in our Italian shops, so I’m guessing it’s not a widely used ingredient. After all, didn’t the Italians invent olive oil? ;-)
Just watched Paul Hollywood on BBC2. At the end of his programme he announced that next week he will be making LARDY CAKE! Can you get these programmes in Australia?
Really? I wonder if he’ll make his own lard? Thanks for the headsup, I’ll look out for it! :)
Mmm that looks great! I wonder how I would go with it because I love butter too but this does look fabulous! :D
You know, I was thinking a bit more about it, and I think it would probably be brilliant with butter! Not the same, but really good nonetheless! xx
Wow so impressed you made your own lard! What I’m dying to know is how you used those leftover crispy lard pieces? Char kway teow or an afternoon snack? :)
Thank you :) The crispy bits went straight into the FREEZER – before I ate them all hand over fist! I’m thinking of putting them into some sort of bread..
Beautiful lardy cake! I’ll fight you for the crispy bits. You were very strong to put them in the freezer. They’re nice on flat breads. We had our own hogs (pigs) when I was a kid and always used lard for pastry and frying. Bought some here in Australia–I agree it was awful–couldn’t bring myself to use it for pastry.
Liz, that’s a great idea – I’ll throw them on our next pizza! Thank you! Pete will be suitably appalled! :) I found a recipe for crackling cornbread, which was my other idea.. ;-)
Such English baking Celia. Now I would love to try this the fruit, the richness, God keep big boy away….he might be like a mosquito and explode. . I wonder if this kind of baking was prevalent anywhere else?.Miss you x
You are too sweet love. Don’t miss me, I’m right here! :) I think there are lots of cultures using lard in sweet baking, will have to investigate further!
What an absolute beauty that looks Celia. The texture looks fabulous. Being a Pom I know of Lardy Cake and of lard. My paternal Grandmother made pastry with lard and I remember it as being really good. This kind of cooking is true ‘nose to tail’ stuff; making use of every bit of the animal – and for my Grandmother it would have been very much a case of making something sustaining out of cheap ingredients. My Grandparents ate their fair share of animal fats but lived well into old age and I am sure that was because they were also physically very active and possibly because all of their food would have been seasonal and unadulterated. Food history is so interesting and I think you’re flippin’ amazing for making this. And I’ve never known what chitlings were either!
Jan, I read in Maya Angelou’s cookbook that in the deep South, they used the whole hog – “from rooter to tooter”.. :) I wish you lived closer and could come over and eat this with us! xx
Years ago friends and I were living in the UK. One of my friends used to eat lardy cakes all the time at work – the tea lady would come around and he just couldn’t resist, but he never knew what they were called.
It wasn’t until years later back in Perth that we worked out what they were after trawling through cook books. Then it suddenly dawned on him why he had stacked on the weight!! I made it for his birthday, using butter instead because lard just didn’t seem right to me. Still turned out great.
Thanks for bringing back the memory. Love your blog Celia.
Jenny, it’s not health food, is it! I wonder if it only really works when you’re living in the freezing cold and working the fields every day! :)
Hello, Celia. I ended up here via a circuitous selections of likes and links and stumbled across this. I love THE HANDMADE LOAF! I usually make sourdough–not much of a sweet baker, but I did make this. I’m in Boston, and a few years ago I discovered that leaf lard is often easily accessible via serious Chinese markets, where it is much more in demand than in mainstream stores or even butcher shops. Since then we’ve a local butcher begin to get regular batches in for his clientele, but if you’ve got an Asian community near you… Lovely blog, by the way. I’ll be back. Ken
Ken, thanks for the tip, and for stopping by! I hope you guys are all ok in Boston – we’re thinking of you from the other side of the world.. x
Lardy cakes were a regular feature of my childhood – bought from the bakers. They were layered and square with not as much fruit as yours – and I’m sure there was no icing. They were quite greasy but that was the appeal!
Sally, I’m going to try making them with butter next. I know it’s not the right thing, but it’s a heck of a lot easier than rendering lard! :)
Hey, thanks for posting this. I’ve only just made my first ever Lardy cake based on your recipe – the only deviation being that I used 2 tsps fresh yeast, 200g of my own 100% hydration starter (that I’ve recently got going), and shop-bought lard. I have to say that it did tear despite handling it with extreme care but it came out fine and I’ll definitely be making it again perhaps with the addition of some lemon zest to the dough. Cheers, andrew.
Oh that’s great, thanks for taking the time to let me know, Andrew! Credit really does go to Dan Lepard – my recipe was just a riff on his! :)
My last plonker is at the abbatoir and i will be getting the fat as they don’t have a small kettle for the rendering, so I was interested to read this post. So basically I chop it up, add a little water, then heat, strain, cool, pour off water and there you go. I actually washed some lard one time, like you wash butter and it came up very white.. have you heard fo anyone doing that? I made soap out of it and it was a nice cake. c
Celi, this was my first attempt at rendering lard, and it worked quite well (I got the instructions somewhere on the net) – I think you need to heat it very gently to keep the flavour mild. From memory, I rendered as much of it as I could really gently, then strained out nice clear fat, then heated up the remainder to get the last of the fat out and used the last bit for cooking. I poured it into a container in the fridge – didn’t wash it, but that’s an interesting idea, I’ve never read about anyone doing that before.