Hevva on a Plate

Photo © Rob Jones

Strolling through St. Ives, nose pressed to the baker’s shop window … the main buy was a swiftly consumed pasty. The back up was a slice of ‘Hevva’ or Cornish ‘Heavy’ cake.

So the story goes …

The cake was made by Cornish fishermen’s wives to celebrate the return of their menfolk after a successful trip. ‘Heva, Heva’ was shouted by look-outs (Huers) on cliffs, who would shout and wave gorse branches to alert the boats where to fish when they spotted the pilchard shoals . The cry was also a signal to start baking.

I’d describe it as a ‘light’ fruit cake - in contrast to the Bara Brith from home or some of the darker fruit cakes you get elsewhere. It’s a kind of love child of a Bara Brith and Welsh cakes tastewise.

And, it’s actually not as heavy as it sounds, and the ingredients down play the eventual pleasing taste.

Definitely needs to be eaten with a cup of strong tea.

Ingredients:

500g Self-Raising Flour

250g of Butter

350g of Mixed Dried Fruit - your choice. I favoured Cranberries.

200g of Sugar

100ml of Milk.

Method:

The eventual cake traditionally ought to be square … so source a square cake tin.

Rub the flour and butter together. Add the sugar and fruit and mix well. Add the milk to make a soft dough.

Press the dough into the cake tin, pushing down into the corners to make sure there are no gaps. Score the top with a sharp knife, traditionally this is supposed to symbolise the Cornish fisherman’s nets. This will guide you when you come to cut later on.

Cook in the middle of the oven (190C) for about 35 minutes - it’s done when a knife comes out clean -

While it’s still warm, glaze it with milk and some sugar.

Cool, cut and serve.

When you look at it … it does look like little fish caught in the fishermen’s nets.

R