Goosnargh is a village to the north of the city of Preston in Lancashire, not that far from where we used to live. So, surely, I should have heard of Goosnargh cakes then!

It was while we were listening to the Radcliffe & Maconie programme on 6Music a couple of weekends ago that Stuart discussed Goosnargh cakes; my curiosity was piqued! They’re not cakes, but biscuits; shortbread rounds spiced with caraway and/or coriander seeds. I wasn’t completely sold on the flavours, but thought I’d give them a try.

What are tosset cakes. Granny? Well, tosset cakes is the same as Goosnargh cakes, Garstang Fair cakes, Stalmine Club Cakes, and Pilling Cakes. They’re all the same, but different sizes and different names. Butter and sugar and flour, with spices and seeds, and not too much cooking, that’s all they were and very good and wholesome they were, too, I can tell you.
_{Lancashire Evening Post – Wednesday 27 July 1932}

Usually, I associate caraway seeds with savoury bread or crackers and coriander seeds with curry… not sweet biscuits. As it was a completely new taste experience, I decided to divide the caraway and coriander seeds into two separate batches.

Justin took his first bite (of the caraway seeded version) and exclaimed, “That’s a surprise!”. He explained that he wasn’t expecting a sweet shortbread to have that kind of flavour. However, after a couple more bites, surprise had given way to pleasure!

Once I’d tested both versions, I had to agree. I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy them, but I really did! I’ll be making them again… and perhaps even mix the caraway and coriander seeds next time!

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Goosnargh cakes

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Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Course Snack

Cuisine British

Ingredients

  

• 225 g/8oz unsalted butter
• 125 g/4½oz golden caster sugar plus more for sprinkling
• 350 g/12⅓oz plain flour
• ½ tsp ground coriander seeds
• 1½ tsp caraway seeds

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
• Grease or line two baking sheets with parchment paper
• Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
• Sift the flour over the creamed mix, add the coriander and caraway seeds, mix with wooden spoon until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs
• Using your hand, work the mixture together to form smooth paste
• Take out of the bowl and onto a floured work surface and knead gently so that dough is smooth and ready to roll out
• Roll out to about ¼" thickness and, using a circular cutter, cut out rounds of dough
• Place the rounds onto the baking sheets and sprinkle the tops with caster sugar
• Put the baking sheets into the fridge for 30 minutes/1 hour until well chilled
• Pop into oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until just turned golden brown
• Remove from the oven and sprinkle with a little more caster sugar
• Leave to cool slightly then transfer to a wire rack

Keyword biscuits, shortbread