Yorkshire Soda Cake –  this everyday cake is quick and easy to make. The outer shell is crispy, with an inner soft and crumby texture – perfect with a mug of tea.

Here’s a recipe from the Keighley area of West Yorkshire.

Ingredients

• 8 oz (225g) plain flour
• 3 oz (85g) lard
• 3 oz (85g) currants
• 4 oz (113g) sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• Half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• A little milk

Method

1. Rub the lard into the flour and then mix in the dried fruit and sugar
2. Add the beaten egg
3. Add the bicarbonate of soda to a little milk (around 2 tablespoons) and whisk well
4. Mix soda and milk to the other ingredients and mix to a soft dough; add a little more milk if the mix feels too dry.  Press the dough into a greased and lined 8″ round cake tin
5. Bake in a moderate oven (350 F/180 C/gas mark 4) for 30 minutes.

Source: Peter Brears ‘Traditional Food in Yorkshire’ (2014)   Prospect Books, p.213.