Banbury puffs recipe

Banbury Puffs recipe

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About this recipe

In this blog post I will guide you thru the steps and ingredients needed to craft this recipe. Grab your favorite apron and let's start.
The Banbury puffs recipe is a delightful treat that has been enjoyed for centuries. These light and fluffy pastries originated in Banbury, England, and have since become a beloved dessert worldwide. The recipe combines a buttery pastry dough with a sweet and tangy filling, creating a perfect balance of flavors. Whether served as a breakfast pastry or an afternoon snack, Banbury puffs are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Keywords: Banbury puffs, recipe, pastries, dessert, sweet.

Banbury puffs recipe details

Banbury puffs recipe, recipe Rating: 4.5
Number of votes:99 

Ingredients

	For the pastry:
150 g	unsalted butter
225 g	plain flour
1 pinch(es)	salt, generous
	iced water
	For the Filling:
25 g	unsalted butter, softened
100 g	currants
1 tbsp	mixed peel, chopped
1	egg yolk
1 tbsp	levelled, plain flour
1 tbsp	brandy
50 g	soft brown sugar
¼ tsp	allspice, or to taste
¼ tsp	ground cinnamon, or to taste
	caster sugar, for decoration

Instructions

The number of pastries obtained will vary according to their size and thickness of pastry achieved.

Pastry:
Weigh out the butter and wrap it in foil and place in the freezer for between 30-45 minutes, until quite hard.

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Remove the butter from the freezer and partly unwrap it, using the foil to hold it. Using a coarse grater suspended over the flour, grate the butter. When it becomes difficult, dip the exposed portion of the butter into the flour and resume grating. Fold back more foil as needed. Continue to grate and dip in flour until all the butter is grated.

Mix the butter into the flour with a spatula and then cut in with a palette knife, trying to ensure that all the butter is coated with flour. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of ice cold water and attempt to bring the pastry together.

Finish the pastry with your fingers, adding more cold water if necessary. Wrap it in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before use.

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4, 180°C, 350°F.

Filling:
Melt the butter in a small pan and add the flour and stir to form a roux. Cook until thick and then remove from heat and set aside to cool.

When cold, add the remaining ingredients and add the spices to taste.

To assemble:
Roll out the pastry quite thinly, about 1/8-inch or 3mm if possible but as thin as you can achieve, on a lightly floured surface. Use a saucer to cut out rounds of pastry and cover the lower half of each with the filling while leaving a rim of about ½-inch or so, 12-15mm to seal and crimp. Brush the rim with cold water and bring the top half of the pastry down so that the edges meet. Lightly press the edges together and crimp to seal. Brush the tops with a little water and sprinkle with caster sugar.

Transfer to a lightly greased baking tray and prick the tops with a fork. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the pastry is cooked and golden brown

Allow to cool completely before serving.

About the recipe:
A 1930’s original, the puffs were considered to be a close relative to Eccles Cakes but there are significant differences

Preparation time:
ca. 40 min
Resting time:
ca. 2 hrs
Grade of difficulty:
medium
Calories per portion:
n/a