Wherein I open my first package of lard.

In the words of the van der Stevejinck family "much better than it sounds", "very tasty", "I like the cranberries in it".

I did not have high hopes with this recipe. One word. Lard. I've never purchased lard before, I've never opened a package of lard before, I've never cooked with lard before. The word "lard" just doesn't sound healthy (which I'm pretty sure it's not) or appetizing. It's really rather a shame that we like it so much...because I strongly suspect that there is no such thing as "The Lardy Cake Diet".

I found a recipe for Wiltshire Lardy Cake on a site called The Great British Kitchen. I changed a couple of things about the recipe...because you will not find sultanas, mixed peel or currants in anything that I bake. Yuk. I substituted Craisins (dried cranberries) for the whole lot of that stuff. I also made the basic bread dough in my bread machine.

Betty Debbie's Wiltshire Lardy Cake

Dump in your bread machine:
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp. yeast
1 heaping teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 ounce lard
1 teaspoon salt.

Let this mixture run through the "Dough Cycle".

Filling:
2 1/2 ounces lard
3 ounces butter
1 cup Craisins
2 ounces sugar

Grease an 8x10"pan.
Dump dough out of the bread machine onto a well floured surface. Roll out to a rectangle that's about 1/4 inch thick. Dot 1/3 of the lard and butter evenly(ish) over the surface, sprinkle with 1/3 of the sugar and 1/3 of the Craisins. Fold the dough in three, folding the bottom third up and the top third down. Give it a quarter turn, then repeat the process...roll out, dot, sprinkle, fold, turn. Repeat the process one more time then place the dough in the prepared pan. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 30 minutes at - until puffy. Score the top with a criss-cross pattern with a knife, then bake for 30 minutes at 400', until well risen and brown. Turn out and serve immediately or leave to cool on a wire rack.

I thought this recipe would be heavy and dense, but it's more like a cross between croissants and rolls. The cranberries add a nice touch -I highly recommend these. For occasional use only.