Cornish Hevva Cake

Cornish Hevva Cake

A traditional Cornish tea-time slab cake from the pilchard-fishing villages of Cornwall, marked with a criss-cross 'hevva' pattern and studded with raisins. The historical reference to fish reflects its origin as a fisherman's bake; the recipe itself is a simple enriched dough, no actual fish included.

Prep

20 min

Cook

25 min

Total

45 min

Serves

8

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •450 g (1 lb) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• •170 g (6 oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• •170 g (⅔ cup) caster sugar
• •170 g (1 cup) raisins
• •10 (2 tsp) baking powder
• •5 g (1 tsp) salt
• •240 ml (1 cup) whole milk
• •1 whole (1 large) egg, lightly beaten, for glaze
• •15 g (1 tbsp) demerara sugar, for sprinkling on top

Steps

1. 1 Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F / Gas Mark 6). Lightly grease and flour a 30 x 20 cm (12 x 8 in) Swiss roll tin or rectangular baking tray.
2. 2 Sift the plain flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Rub in the cold cubed butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the caster sugar and raisins.
3. 3 Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk. Mix quickly with a round-bladed knife to bring the dough together into a soft, slightly sticky ball (do not overwork).
4. 4 Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, knead very gently for about 30 seconds, then press or roll out to roughly 1.5 cm (⅝ in) thick to fit the prepared tin. Transfer to the tin and tidy the edges.
5. 5 Brush the surface all over with the beaten egg. Using the back of a knife or a skewer, score a deep criss-cross lattice across the top to mark out diamond shapes; traditionally a finger or stick is pressed into the corners of each diamond to make the 'hevva' indentations that signal to fishermen the shoals of pilchards have arrived.
6. 6 Sprinkle evenly with the demerara sugar so the top will caramelise and crunch.
7. 7 Bake on the middle shelf for 20–25 minutes, until the cake is risen, deep golden brown, and sounds hollow when tapped; an internal reading in the centre should reach at least 95°C (200°F).
8. 8 Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then cut along the scored lines into squares or diamonds. Serve warm or at room temperature, traditionally split and spread with butter, alongside a pot of strong Cornish tea.