Hevva Cake (Heavy Cake)

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Hevva Cake (Heavy Cake)

Hevva Cake (Heavy Cake) is a traditional English recipe (from Cornwall) for a classic tea cake made from a flour, lard and currant dough swetened with sugar that's rolled and marked to resemble a fisherman's net before baking. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic English version of: Heavy Cake.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

25 minutes

Total Time:

45 minutes

Serves:

8–10

Rating:

Tags : Baking Recipes Cake Recipes British Recipes English Recipes Cornish Recipes

These are a feature of the fishing villages of south Cornwall, from Truro westwards. They were originally made in the seaside villages where a type of fishing known as seine fishing took place (this is where a curved net is dragged that eventually encircles the fish and can be done from the shore or by boat). When the net was being hauled to shore the men used to shout out 'HEAVE' with every pull. It was on hearing these shouts that the women knew that their menfolk would soon be home for tea and they would begin to prepare these flat cakes (which can be eaten warm or cold). Because of this the cakes were known as 'Heave Cakes' which soon mutated to 'Heavy Cake'. The criss-cross pattern incised on the cake is meant to represent the fishing net.

Ingredients:

200g plain flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
100g lard
100g currants
55g caster sugar
water to bind

Method:

Sift together the flour and salt in a bowl. Dice the lard, add to the bowl and mix roughly with the flour. Add the currants and sugar and stir to combine. Now add just enough water to bring the ingredients together as a rough dough.

Turn onto a floured work surface and roll out to about 1cm thick. Square off the sides of the cake neatly then carefully transfer to a greased baking tray. Take a sharp knife and incise a diamond pattern on the top.

Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve either hot or cold.