Dripping cake
Encyclopedia
Dripping cakes, also known as Drippers, are a traditional bread
from Great Britain
. The main ingredients are dripping
, flour
, brown sugar
, spices, currant
s and raisins. The ingredients are mixed thoroughly and baked in an oven.
Variations of dripping cake can be found in Wales
, and in parts of England including Gloucestershire
and Yorkshire
. In Gloucestershire the dripping is allowed to form a toffee-like layer at the base of the cake. It can be confused with the Lardy cake
, which is very similar apart from the principal ingredient being lard
instead of beef dripping.
As dripping is left over from cooking a joint of meat, it is economical and filling, and has long been a popular snack with schoolboys.
Dripping cakes are very rich and sweet, and despite contemporary concerns about high-calorie
, high-fat
foods, are still popular.
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
from Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. The main ingredients are dripping
Dripping
Dripping, also known usually as beef dripping or more rarely, as pork dripping, is an animal fat produced from the fatty or otherwise unusable parts of cow or pig carcasses...
, flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
, brown sugar
Brown sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white...
, spices, currant
Zante currant
The Zante currant , or currant are dried berries of small, sweet, seedless grape variety Black Corinth . The name comes from the Anglo-French phrase "raisins de Corinthe" and the Ionian island of Zakynthos , which was once the major producer and exporter...
s and raisins. The ingredients are mixed thoroughly and baked in an oven.
Variations of dripping cake can be found in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and in parts of England including Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
and Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. In Gloucestershire the dripping is allowed to form a toffee-like layer at the base of the cake. It can be confused with the Lardy cake
Lardy cake
Lardy cake, also known as Lardy bread, Lardy Johns, Dough cake and Fourses cake is a traditional rich spiced form of bread probably originating in Wiltshire in the South West of England, which has also been popular throughout the West Country and the southern counties of England including Oxford...
, which is very similar apart from the principal ingredient being lard
Lard
Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...
instead of beef dripping.
As dripping is left over from cooking a joint of meat, it is economical and filling, and has long been a popular snack with schoolboys.
Dripping cakes are very rich and sweet, and despite contemporary concerns about high-calorie
Food energy
Food energy is the amount of energy obtained from food that is available through cellular respiration.Food energy is expressed in food calories or kilojoules...
, high-fat
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
foods, are still popular.