Cáca gur (Gur Cake) is a traditional Irish recipe (from 19th century Dublin) for a classic leftovers cake of two layers of pastry with a blend of stale bread or cake with sugar, spices, brown sugar and butter sandwiched between them. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Irish version of: Gur Cake (Cáca gur).
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This cake was eaten by the poor of Dublin in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, for it was very cheap because it was made by bakers from their stale cake or bread stocks. This can be made with stale cake rather than bread if preferred, in which case omit the dried fruit.
Ingredients:
8 slices stale bread, crusts cut off (or stale cake)
3 tbsp flour
1⁄2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
100g brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
175g currants or mixed dried fruit
1 large egg, beaten
4 tbsp milk
350g sweet shortcrust pastry
sugar for sprinkling
Method:
Soak the bread in a little water for an hour, then squeeze out all the excess liquid and tear the bread into small pieces. Combine the bread with the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, sugar, butter, fruit, beaten egg and milk. Mix thoroughly to combine.
Line the base of a 22cm square baking tin with half the pastry mixture, then spread over the bread and fruit mix. Cover with the remaining pastry then make a few diagonal gashes across the top and bake in an oven pre-heated to 190°C (170°C fan/gas mark 5) for about an hour.
Once baked, remove from the oven then sprinkle the top with sugar and allow to cool in the tin. Once cooled cut into 24 small squares. (In the 19th century, a square of this size used to be sold for a halfpenny.)
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