Gloucester Drips
Gloucester Drips (or Gloucester Drippers) are similar in many ways to the Gloucester Lardy Cake, excepting that this recipe uses Beef ‘Dripping’ instead of Lard (pig fat). They are also tray baked, as opposed to being made and baked singularly like the Lardy Cake, where the bottom of the tray is thickly lined with butter and sprinkled with soft brown sugar – when baked this turns into a ‘toffee’ sauce. The tray is baked off, and when cold, squares are cut out of it and served. Fondly remembered by many a small child from Gloucester, they are rarely if ever found in the Gloucester shops and bakeries now, and if they are, they are never made as they once were, being slightly labour intensive compared to modern bakery fare.
Gloucester Drips Recipe
Makes 1 tray. Note: Although the folding of the rectangle dough sounds complicated, it is just the same process as for puff pastry. The secret to a wonderful and moist Gloucester Drip is using great beef dripping, and getting lots of layers into the final dough before baking
Recipe Ingredients:
For the dough
- 470g strong white bread flour
- 8g salt
- 15g beef dripping (melted)
- 20g yeast
- 250ml milk (warmed)
- 180g sultanas
- 70g currants
For the filling
- 150g beef dripping (softened)
- 150g soft brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
For the baking tray
- 100g butter (softened)
- 10g soft brown sugar
Recipe Method:
For the dough: In a jug pour in 25oml of warmed milk, stir in a large pinch of brown sugar, then add the yeast. Stir, then leave this somewhere warm for ten minutes so that the yeast can activate and froth up.
In a large mixing bowl sift in the flour, scatter in the salt, and mix. Make a well in the centre. When the yeast is ready pour it into the well and start to mix, add the melted beef dripping and bring it into a silky and smooth dough – add more flour or milk if necessary. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead in the dried fruit. Once silky and smooth (and well kneaded) shape the dough into a ball, place it into a bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm for an hour or two until the bun dough rises to almost double in size.
Prepare the baking tray: Cream the softened butter and the brown sugar together in a bowl. Take a medium sized non-stick baking tray, which is a good 3 or 4 cm deep, and very thickly butter the tray with butter and sugar. Set aside.
To make the Gloucester Drips: on a floured work surface roll out the dough to a large rectangle. Evenly spread over the closest two-thirds of its surface with a third of the beef dripping and soft brown sugar and mixed spice – keep the third of the dough furthest away from you clear. Fold the plain dough (1/3rd) which had nothing spread on it, over towards you, to cover the middle third. Fold the closest third of the rectangle up and away from you, to cover the first fold, making a neat, long, fat sandwich.
Turn the dough a half turn, so that the long rectangle sandwich is now positioned lengthways away from you. Fold it in half and roll this out back into a large rectangle. Do the same as before. Evenly spread over two-thirds of its surface with another third of the beef dripping and soft brown sugar and mixed spice – keep the third of the dough furthest away from you clear. Fold the plain dough (1/3rd) which had nothing spread on it, over towards you, to cover the middle third of the rectangle. Fold the closest third of the rectangle up and away from you, to cover the first fold, making a neat, long, fat sandwich.
Turn the dough a half turn, so that the long rectangle sandwich is now positioned lengthways away from you. Fold it in half, roll this out back into a large rectangle. Do the same as before. Evenly spread over two-thirds of its surface the last third of the beef dripping and soft brown sugar and mixed spice – keep the third of the dough furthest away from you clear. Fold the plain dough (1/3rd) which had nothing spread on it, over towards you, to cover the middle third of the rectangle. Fold the closest third of the rectangle up and away from you, to cover the first fold, making a neat, long, fat sandwich.
Roll it out into a rectangle to fit the baking tray, square it off. Place it into the thickly buttered and sugared baking tray. Place it somewhere warm and allow it to have a second rise, as it proves (30 to 45 minutes) it will expand into the tray.
Preheat the oven to 210C
Bake the Drippers: Place the baking tray into the oven and bake at 210C for about 40 to 50 minutes. The Gloucester Drip will rise and go golden to dark brown, once fully baked remove it from the oven. Leave it cool for just 5 minutes. If it is not turned out quickly while hot it will stick. Put a larger tray over the baked Gloucester Drip tray, and then carefully turn it over, tap the tray to release the Dripper. Be very careful when you do this, the very hot toffee sauce once inverted will run down and over the top of the bake. Allow to cool, cut into squares and serve.
Note: some bakeries sent the trays out to the shops straight from the oven, without turning them out. The shops in Gloucester sold them by cutting them into squares themselves, and therefore the ‘toffee sauce’ would be on the bottom, with the Dipper having a crispy top. Our advice is to do it they way you remember!
