ottawa foodies

In Ottawa? Elsewhere? Excellent ones at Betty's in York I know. Gotta be made with butter in the pastry and currants in the filling!
I used to get them at the Devon Bakery in Manotick but since they went out of business I haven't come across them in Ottawa. I used to love one with a cuppa joe before heading out to the barn in the morning.
Has anyone seen them out there?

Link to Eccles Cakes info: www.recipes4us.co.uk

You can definitely get Eccles Cakes from The English Pie Shop at the Carp Farmers' Market. In fact, I've cloned your request (and my response) to that food entry.

I wasn't thrilled with the Eccles Cakes here, but it's been so incredibly long since I had one in England that I honestly don't know how it compares. Definitely worth a try!

Thanks for that Fresh Foodie. I wonder if theirs are any good?
The only ones that I have found since the Devon closed were from the Chesterville farmer's market and they weren't great - 3/4" to 1" thick pastry on the bottom.
Still pining for the Devon, sigh...

Hi Andy,

I don't know if they are good or not, but they have them at the Scottish and Irish store.

scottishandirishstore.com

You might want to call ahead and see if they have any in stock.

Kelvin Holland, former Upper Canada Village baker, makes them at the B&H Grocery store in Kemptville. You can find them in the deli counter. He also makes faggots, cornish pastry, spotted dick and lots of different pot pies. As well as pretty awesome loaves of different breads. We're lucky to have him.

PM me and I'll bring one downtown Ottawa for pick up if you want to try it.

Caribou, slap me upside the head - I'm 15 min. from Kemptville and shop there regularly but not very often at the B&H. You can bet that I'll be heading there to see if there are any - I'll have to find out what day they come in (unless you know?). Thanks.

ksw, I never thought to look at the Scottish & Irish Store for baked goods (even though I have eaten several Irish versions of Eccles Cakes). I checked them out online and they do sell them, online anyways, and they are from Mrs. Bridges' Bakery, which turns out to be in TO, though they are currently out of them online. I wonder if they are made here or in UK. Thanks for that info - online sometimes is the way I go.

Le Moulin de Provence used to have them, at least within the last six months (on top of the counter). I don't know about authenticity, but they were tasty. Made with raisins - which I think can also be authentic - and covered with sugar.

Andy - not sure. You might want to call ahead. I know they bake fresh bread (I think) on Thurs., Fri. and Sat. so you might get lucky on those days. BTW, Baker's Best is teh bomb.

Seconding the Eccles Cakes at The English Pie Shop. So yummy and certainly not a nibbler...I found myself finishing the one I'd planned on sharing with my kids. Ooops!

Well I made it into B&H today and looked all around before finding the eccles cakes right there in the deli counter like you said they were Caribou. I've never seen them refrigerated before. I picked up a couple ($1.29 ea) as well as a steak and kidney pie and a couple cornish pasties (well, the label poking out of one said pastry).
When my wife saw the cakes she asked what they were and was surprised as they don't look like any she had ever seen, and I had to agree with her. They didn't have much filling and I think it was a mix of raisins and currants as the flavour wasn't what I had hoped for. The pastry was a puff pastry and not buttery. Somewhat disappointing, sadly, as I was hoping they'd be good and would have drawn me (and her) into the store. Sigh...

Last weekend I made eccles cakes for the first time and they were a qualified success - some got overcooked as I was busy admiring some pics my wife took with her new Rebel camera. I used an old Mary Moore recipe. I need to work on the pastry a bit and the filling a tiny bit, but we sure enjoyed them. They looked and tasted like the eccles cakes I know and love and I look forward to having another go at them soon. Til then, I'll keep looking for ones to buy and try.

If you are in the Muskokas, stop by Henrietta's Pine Bakery at Hwy 60 and Hwy 35 to check out their eccles cakes.

Andy: I will happily take the Mary Moore cookbook off your hands when you tire of it.

Hey Food Is Fun, I found some nice pics on a blog of the bakery and a # of pics of baked goods there (sadly no pics of eccles cakes) - looks like a good bakery. Sadly the closest I get is to Denbeigh/Mink lake area.

There is no way in hell either of us will ever tire of that old Canadian classic - the trouble will come when we have to decide which kid to will it to! That and my Vincent Price gastroporn cookbook.

Hey Food Is Fun! Hard to believe, but these are some eccles cakes brought back from Henrietta's by some friends yesterday. When they were here for dinner last week they mentioned a road trip that incuded Hwy 60 and I mentioned that at the corner of 60 & 35 was a bakery (I had forgotten the name) that carried eccles cakes and they remembered and stopped, stood in a long line and bought me some. They remarked on how beautiful the bakery and the food was and how much people were buying, some with long lists!
Coffee with an eccles cake this morning was a treat thanks in part to you, so thanks! Sorry, still no Mary Moore cookbook for you, but if I see it in my travels through used bookstores I might pick it up for you - deal?

Some proper English eccles cakes from Betty's in York, England, brought back for me by my dd a couple weeks ago when she returned from her theses defense. Not quite as flavourful as those from Kemptville's Crusty Baker - The Crusty Baker - but more fitting, perhaps, for a proper English tea.

I've never been able to bring myself to try an eccles cake. When I hear 'eccles' it always reminds me of my embalming days long ago. Cake and embalming fluid are just not two things I can think about at the same time. ;-)

www.eckelsandcompany.com/

The cakes from York do look really different from any of the ones I've ever seen though, Andy!

Oh, I hope you haven't ruined me organic girl - I couldn't bear making the same association! Are you sure you haven't tried them because you don't like black currants (or raisins in misguided cooks' versions)? That's why my Eccles cakes are safe in her hands - she won't eat them.
I' d say that the shape of the Betty's cakes are the norm in the UK - it' not unusual to see them with a look more like the B&H version (2 layers of puff pastry) here or a single layer with way way too much pastry on the bottom. I highly recommend the Crusty Baker in Kemptville version when they have them (not often enough imo).