Bedfordshire clangers

Bedfordshire clangers

Learn how to make a traditional bedfordshire clanger with baker Anna Higham’s easy recipe. Here’s why this regional bake should be on your radar…

Bedfordshire clangers

  • Heritage dish:Bedfordshire clangers are a classically idiosyncratic British bake. They’re a double-ended suet pastry; one end is filled with a sweet filling, the other with savoury. Lunch and dessert all in one!” says Anna.
  • Potted history: Clangers hail from Bedfordshire, and are also eaten in neighbouring counties. They were traditionally made by farm workers’ wives in the 19th Century for their husbands to take for lunch.
  • Classic flavour combo: “I’ve chosen to fill them with a classic pork filling (with a little quince in there) and an apple filling at the other end. There’s a little dividing wall between the two fillings but if there’s fraternisation while they bake, the pork and apple sides will still be a welcome combination. They are a little work to make as you’re making two fillings, but they’re a fun weekend project and perfect picnic food.”

Browse more brilliant savoury bakes.

  • Serves icon Makes 10
  • Time icon Prep time 40 min, plus 30 min chilling. Cook time 45 min

Learn how to make a traditional bedfordshire clanger with baker Anna Higham’s easy recipe. Here’s why this regional bake should be on your radar…

  • Heritage dish:Bedfordshire clangers are a classically idiosyncratic British bake. They’re a double-ended suet pastry; one end is filled with a sweet filling, the other with savoury. Lunch and dessert all in one!” says Anna.
  • Potted history: Clangers hail from Bedfordshire, and are also eaten in neighbouring counties. They were traditionally made by farm workers’ wives in the 19th Century for their husbands to take for lunch.
  • Classic flavour combo: “I’ve chosen to fill them with a classic pork filling (with a little quince in there) and an apple filling at the other end. There’s a little dividing wall between the two fillings but if there’s fraternisation while they bake, the pork and apple sides will still be a welcome combination. They are a little work to make as you’re making two fillings, but they’re a fun weekend project and perfect picnic food.”

Browse more brilliant savoury bakes.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories
280kcals
Fat
12g (6.3g saturated)
Protein
9.9g
Carbohydrates
32g (13g sugars)
Fibre
2.4g
Salt
0.3g

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Ingredients

For the pastry

  • 200g self-raising flour, plus extra to dust
  • 100g beef suet
  • 1 medium egg yolk, beaten with a pinch of salt, to glaze

For the pork filling

  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 small eating apple, cored and finely chopped
  • ¼ tsp ground mace
  • 25g membrillo (see Know-how)
  • 250g pork mince
  • 50g fresh breadcrumbs

For the apple filling

  • 2 bramley apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 50g membrillo
  • 3 small eating apples, cored and finely sliced

Method

  1. To make the pastry, in a large mixing bowl, rub the flour and suet together with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add a pinch of salt, then slowly pour in 100-150ml cold water, mixing, until the dough comes together into a ball (you might not need all the water). Wrap, then chill for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
  2. For the pork filling, add the butter, onion and apple to a saucepan over a low heat. Cook for around 10 minutes until the apple and onion are very soft. Add the mace, membrillo and a pinch of salt and pepper, then cook and stir until the membrillo melts. Transfer to a tray, spreading out the mixture so it cools quickly.
  3. Once cool, combine with the pork mince and breadcrumbs. Fry off a small portion to check the seasoning, if you like. Once you’re happy, cover and chill the pork filling in the fridge until needed.
  4. For the apple filling, add the bramley apples, sugar and membrillo to a medium saucepan (one with a lid) with a splash of water. Cook over a medium heat, covered, until the apples completely break down into a purée (about 10 minutes). Add the sliced eating apples, mix well, then leave to cool. Chill until needed.
  5. Heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/gas 5. Take the pastry out of the fridge, unwrap and, on a lightly flour-dusted surface, roll into a large rectangle, roughly the thickness of a pound coin. Cut out 10 rectangles, roughly 12cm x 9cm, saving any trim to create the central barriers. Add 1 tbsp of the pork filling to one side and 1 tbsp of the apple filling to the other, leaving a 1cm barrier around the outside and a little gap in the centre. Add a small piece of pastry between the fillings, then brush the edges of the pastry with a little water. Fold the dough over the filling, then use a fork to seal the edges.
  6. Brush the clangers with the beaten egg yolk, put them on a lined baking tray, then bake for 25 minutes until golden and a skewer pushed into the pork side comes out hot. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then enjoy – or leave to cool and enjoy at room temperature.

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving
Calories
280kcals
Fat
12g (6.3g saturated)
Protein
9.9g
Carbohydrates
32g (13g sugars)
Fibre
2.4g
Salt
0.3g

delicious. tips

  1. Always peel and chop apples shortly before you cook them to prevent them going brown. If you do want to prepare them in advance, toss them with a little lemon juice.

  2. The baked clangers will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days.

  3. Membrillo is the Spanish word for quince paste/jelly/cheese. You can buy it in most large supermarkets these days, or in delis.

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