Chorley cakes are flattened, fruit filled pastry cakes, traditionally associated with the town of Chorley in Lancashire, England. They are a close relative of the more widely known Eccles cake, but have some significant differences. The Chorley cake is significantly less sweet than its Eccles cousin, and is commonly eaten with a light spread of butter on top, and sometimes a slice of Lancashire cheeseon the side. A Chorley cake is made using currants, sandwiched between two layers of unsweetened shortcrust pastry, whereas an Eccles cake uses flaky puff pastry, which after baking is normally a deeper brown in colour. The other difference is that the currants in the Eccles cake are often concentrated together in the middle while in the Chorley cake the fruit is usually evenly distributed. It is not uncommon to see some sugar added to the fruit, or sweeter raisins or sultanas used. Locals often refer to Chorley cake as Fly Pie.
Sad Cake
Also related to the Chorley cake is East Lancashire's "Sad Cake", made to a similar recipe. It was found in the Darwen, Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Colne, Nelson and Padiham areas and throughout the Rossendale area. Sad cake is often up to 12 inches in diameter, as opposed to the Chorley cake being 3 to 5 inches and is made by rolling out the pastry and dropping raisins and/or currants evenly over the pastry then folding in on several sides and then rolling out again to the required size, usually round but can be square. It was then cut into triangular sections similar to a sponge cake section and was a regular addition in a working man's lunch box. The sad cake was a filler for eating either after one's sandwiches or as a separate tea break snack during the working day in the cotton mills and coal mines of Lancashire. A spread of margarine, butter or even jam was placed on top. It may be eaten with sandwiches of jam and crumbly soft Lancashire cheese.
The October "Chorley Cake Street Fair", restarted in 1995, promotes the cakes, with a competition for local bakers to produce the largest ever Chorley cake.
