Cheltenham Dripper Recipe – How To Make This Cheltenham Classic Cake
Dripper is probably not a familiar term to most people in connection with a cake!
If you grew up in Cheltenham in Gloucestershire (and are of a certain age!!) you will no doubt be familiar with or more likely a lover of the humble ‘dripper’!
I posted a recipe for this most beloved of cakes some years ago and it has proved to be very popular but I’m always looking to improve my recipes and over time little tweaks here and there have made for an even better dripper experience!
So, I’m posting the latest version here but I’ve left the original post below for those of you who are happy to continue to use that one.
New Improved Cheltenham Dripper Recipe
For the dough
335 grams lukewarm water
8 grams salt
25 grams caster sugar
12 grams vegetable oil
500 grams strong white flour
5 grams easy-blend yeast
For the filling
100 grams butter or block baking margarine, softened
100 grams white vegetable fat or lard or beef dripping (*see note below ), softened
100 grams light soft brown sugar
100 grams granulated sugar
You will also need:
A baking tray or roasting tin – the one I used was 36cm x 24 cm [15″ x 10″] – that has been generously greased with butter or block margarine and then sprinkled with a generous layer of soft brown sugar – this will give you a nice sticky bottom!
An enamel tray like this one is ideal (affiliate link)
Click here for more information on this tin
- optional – 100 grams dried fruit – many say that fruit has no place in a traditional Cheltenham Dripper but it really is a matter of personal taste – they were sold with and without fruit so if a fruity one is your preference, you go for it!
- *The choice of white fat is also another bone of contention for dripper purists! I use vegetable fat so the recipe is suitable for vegetarians but lard is also a good choice. Some insist that beef dripping is the traditional choice but bakers who used to make drippers say it would have been too expensive and lard was used…anyway, use whatever you prefer!
Method
First of all, before anything else, get the fats for your filling out of the fridge! They need to be soft.
Using a stand mixer is the easiest way to make the dough but you can make it by hand, it just takes a bit longer and more effort!
If using a stand mixer, place the water, oil, salt and sugar into the bowl then add the flour. Sprinkle the yeast onto the surface of the flour then put the bowl into the mixer with a dough hook and mix on the slowest speed until everything is blended together and the dough has formed.
Turn up the speed a little and allow the mixer to knead the dough for 10 minutes.
If you’re mixing by hand, use a large mixing bowl and first add the flour with the salt, sugar, yeast and oil. It is important that you keep the salt and sugar away from the yeast as they can kill the yeast.
Add the water and mix to make the dough. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes. It will be a little sticky as this is a soft dough but as you knead, the stickiness will ease as the smooth dough is formed.
Whichever method you use, once you have your dough, place it back in the bowl and cover with a damp cloth or oiled cling film to prevent the dough drying out and leave to rise for an hour.
While the dough is rising, make the filling.
Place the fats into a mixing bowl and use a wooden spoon to cream them together (you could also use a hand mixer). Add the sugars and mix together into a paste.
After an hour the dough is ready to roll out.
Flour your work surface and tip your dough out onto it. Form the dough into a rough square then use a rolling pin to roll it out into an oblong the size and shape of your tin.
Spread the surface of the dough with 2/3rds of the filling mixture. (If you are using dried fruits, add 2/3rds of that now too)
Now to fold the dough to enclose the filling. Take one short edge of the dough and fold it to the middle then take the other short edge and fold that to the middle to meet with the other edge.
Turn the dough a 1/4 turn then roll out again to the same size as your tin. Spread the surface with the remaining filling mixture (and the remaining fruit if using) then fold again in the same way as before, taking the sort edges to the middle.
Leave the dough to relax for 10 minutes then roll out again to the shape and size of your tin.
Use the rolling pin to support the dough as you transfer the dough to the tin. Press the edges into the corners and edges of the tin.
Cover with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise for 30-45 minutes.
Pre-heat your oven to 180°c fan / 200°c / gas 6
Bake for 25-30 minutes until risen and golden brown.
Be careful removing the tin from the oven as there will be liquid fat and sugar in the bottom of the tray.
Leave in the tin for 2-3 minutes so that the dough can absorb the lovely stickiness in the base of the tray.
If you have another tray of the same of larger size you can place it on top of the cooked drippers and turn it over to release it, then cut into pieces as small or large as you like. You may need to use a long spatula to loosen it first if it’s started to cling to the tin!
Or you can just cut into generously pieces and use a spatula to remove them from the tin and place on a cooling rack (sticky side up!!) until just warm ready to enjoy with a cup of tea!
***TIP*** to make washing the tray easier, fill with boiling water and leave for 10 minutes to soften any hard bits of sugar and then your tray should be easier to clean 😊
…And for those who know and love the original recipe, here it is!
<<<<< Original Dripper Post >>>>>
How cold is it today? Last week we were enjoying lovely warm sunshine and the promise of spring was well and truly in the air. This morning, I wake up to the sight of snow falling gently and freezing temperatures outside.
When I was a child, days like these were spent inside, snuggled up in front of the fire, blankets over our legs, with hot cups of tea and our family’s favourite comfort cake…a Dripper!
When I was growing up in Gloucestershire these sweet and sticky, (sometimes fruity) slices were known as ‘Drippers’ and they were a real treat, everybody loved them. Originally they would have been made with beef dripping in the filling but the vegetable fat and butter mixture makes for a more palatable cake, suitable for vegetarians!
There are many discussions between Cheltenham folk on whether a true dripper should contain any fruit at all and they will argue quite forcefully that fruit has no place in a Cheltenham Dripper! Well, my mum remembers buying these delicious cakes from bakeries in the 1930’s and there was always the choice between plain or fruit so I trust her memory to allow me to include fruit in my recipe without worrying about the ‘dripper purists’ !
So, what better for the coldest day of the year so far (not sure if that’s true but it really feels like it outside!) than to snuggle up with a slice…or two!
We have a couple of excellent local bakeries in the little town where I live, both of whom sell very tempting looking Lardy cakes (not the same as a dripper but often mistaken for one) but in our journey of thriftyness and finding value for money and a trip down memory lane I have had a go at making my own and the results are delicious.
For those of you who may never have encountered a Dripper, it is basically bread dough that is layered with fat, sugar and dried fruits in the same way that puff pastry is made…sounds tempting doesn’t it? But it really does taste so much better than it sounds! A real treat!
Ingredients
For the bread dough
- 500g (1 lb) strong white bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 15g (1/2oz) butter
- 7g easy blend yeast
- 300ml (1/2 pint) lukewarm water
For the filling
- 90g (3oz) white vegetable fat
- 60g (2oz) butter
- 200g (7oz) dried fruits (sultanas, currants etc) – Fruit is optional as drippers were also sold plain – many Cheltonions say that the plain ones are the true Cheltenham drippers but it is a matter of choice!
- 90g (3oz) light brown sugar
For the tin
- 30g (1oz) butter
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- Butter a 12″ x 9″ roasting tin with the butter and sprinkle over the sugar – this gives you a lovely toffee base to the dripper.
For the glaze
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
First of all, make the bread dough. put the flour and salt into a large bowl and rub in the butter. Mix in the yeast then add the water, mixing well to bring it all together. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and stretchy. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover with oiled clingfilm or a damp tea towel then leave in a warm plce to double in size.
When the dough is ready, knock the air out and knead gently to bring the dough back into a ball. Now, roll out the dough into a largeish rectangle…easier said than done with the stretchy dough but it does go eventually!
Using 1/3rd of the butter and white fat, dot these over the dough before sprinkling on 1/3rd of the sugar and 1/3 of the dried fruits (if using – we often had plain ‘Drippers’ with no fruit when we were younger!) pressing them into the dough a little to stop them falling off during the next stage.
OK, now we’re ready to fold the dough. Fold one end into the middle
then fold the other end over the top of the first – see the picture…it’s so much easier to show rather than tell!
All simple stuff but you now need to do this same procedure twice more so roll the dough out again then add 1/3rd more of the fat, sugar and fruits, roll again and add the last of the mix.
Nearly there now, so just roll out the dough to the size of the tin, place it carefully in the tin, pressing it to fill the tin and cover before leaving it until well risen.
Bake at gas 6 for about 30 minutes until a lovely golden colour. Just before the cake is ready, make the glaze. Put the sugar and water into a small pan and simmer for a couple of minutes before brushing over the cake as soon as it has cooked and comes out of the oven.
Cut the cake into 8 or 12 slices (depending on how greedy you are feeling!) and leave the dripper in the tin for 1 or 2 minutes – no more otherwise the toffee base starts to set and then it can be quite difficult to get the slices out! If you do leave it too long pop the tin back in the oven for 3 or 4 minutes to soften the toffee and it will be easy to get your cake free!
I used to live in WInchombe and Gretton and one of the few things I truly miss, apart from the countryside, is drippers. I did have a go at making them a few years ago and they were okay but not quite the same (are drippers still sold?). Another favourie I used to devour (especially at school) was bread pudding which I also thought was a local thing but when I moved here in Edinburgh nearly 30 years ago I found out that it was a national cake. Might make both for christmas now 🙂
Fabulous recipe and easy to follow. The dripper has been the staple food item of Gloucestershire police officers (on early turn shift) since God was a boy. In the 1980’s the van driver was dispatched to Gardiner’s on Kingsditch to pick up what was required. Drippers and ‘tortoises’ (pasty). After briefing finished the Inspector would have first dibbs, followed by the sergeants and then the constables in order of seniority. As a probationary officer you would end up with the small ones but as you progressed so did the choice. If you were lucky to be given beat 5 you knew you were on a winner because Mrs. Sweet at the laundrette also “got the drippers in” and she was a favoured tea spot. She loved a natter with “her boys and girls”.
As my career progressed I enjoyed other variants around the county but Gardiners were the best.
Hi Mark, thanks so much for these great memories 😊 It seems all of Cheltenham ran on Drippers and tea back in the day…I know I certainly did!!
It’s such a shame that the old bakeries have all gone now but hopefully this recipe helps people rekindle those memories we all have of Cheltenham back in the 70’s & 80’s, when life was so much simpler 😉
Why did no one mention Workman’s or Gardiner’s in Bath Road, Cheltenham. Perhaps I’m too old for folk to remember. Fantastic drippers and great honey buns. Honey buns were shaped like an envelope with sugary, buttery filling inside that leaked out when cooked leaving a lovely toffee crust. Yummy.
Hi Marion, thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Yes, I do remember Gardner’s Bakery but Workman’s is a new one to me!! Never heard the name mentioned before but way back good bakeries were dotted all over the place weren’t they.
I still haven’t had a Honey bun nor found a starting point to try to to recreate them but I’ll keep on trying 😊
Oh heavens yes, Gardner’s, I can see their bags now in mums shopping and my mouth watering like mad.
I spent a happy six months working at Mountstevens in the lower high street, the drippers arrived in a huge tray and I would cut it up ready to sell, my manager told me off cos I cut to the edges
“Stop that, cut to about two inches from the sides, the edge pieces are for our tea breaks”
And they were lovely cos the bakers used to extend the sugar mixture from the base up the sides.
I now have to go and make some so I can wallow in memories
Hi Jules, thanks for sharing your dripper experiences 😊 I hope our recipe brings back some more good memories! Enjoy 😁👍
Gardiner’s drippers were amazing. I was in the police from 1984 and our early shifts were always started with a Gardiner’s dripper and a mug of tea. If you were lucky enough to be given beat 5 for your duty, Mrs. Sweet at the laundrette also had one as she liked us to pop in for a natter. I’ve had other variants of drippers around the county during my service but none were as good as Gardiner’s.
Hi Mark – Gardiners certainly seems to be the favoured bakery to get Drippers back in the 70’s and 80’s but we always used to get ours from Townsends in the Lower High Street, probably for no other reason than because it was on the way home on a Saturday after shopping at Tesco in town (long before the big superstores were even thought of!) If I was very lucky I would sometimes find that they still had a couple for sale in the afternoon when I was on my way home from Pates Grammar School for Girls in Albert Road but they were never the same as a corner one that was still warm – especially on a cold winter morning…great memories 😁👍
Hi Donna
just made my third batch, and getting better each time, and the first one was not bad at all. its that almost toffee like base and despite all the sugar not too sweet. Thanks very much for the recipe. I must try some of your others.
Bob
Hi Bob,
Glad to hear that you are still enjoying the dripper recipe!
I think the sugar is quite well balanced with all of the fat!!! But as an occasional treat it can’t do us too much harm!
One bite takes me right back to my childhood days so worth the calories!
Keep up the good work – and yes, we do have some other cracking recipes to have a go at (but drippers are still up there as one of the most popular recipes on the site!)
Donna
A delight to find this recipe, I went to the old Grammar school in the high street in the 60’s and Leopolds the bakers used to wheel a heated trolly of drippers into the playground in the morning to satisfy us hungry kids. For a week i stopped having school dinners (at a shilling a go) and spent the money on drippers. As I recall they were 4 d each, 3 drippers for lunch and I couldn’t move in the afternoon. I shall try making these and see if they are as good as they look. BTW I think that Norths bakery in winchcombe still do drippers but they are more sugary than the genuine Leopold’s which had to be eaten warm.
Hi Bob, thanks for the memories 😀 Brian’s brother (Alan Gibbs) was also a pupil at the grammar school in the High Street in the 60’s! (I also attended grammar school but it was Pates Grammar school for Girls on Albert Road – not a dripper in sight!)
I’m sure given half a chance, most of us would have loved to have nothing but drippers for lunch 😅
Please do let us know how you get on with making our version of drippers. My mum was a dripper fanatic, which is why I had to create a recipe as you just couldn’t get them a few years ago!! She loved them!!
I hope the recipe is nice and clear for you to follow but if you need any further guidance just let me know.
Donna
Hi yes they still do dripper and honey buns always worth a visit when I’m in the neighbourhood. 😊
There was a wonderful bakery in Cheltenham while I was growing up called Leopold’s. They made this amazing cake called a Honey Bun, I have never ever found a recipe for it, it had a sweet honey sugar crust on the bottom of a lovely golden bun like cake. Can anyone help?
Hi Simon…Leopold’s were a great bakery weren’t they!
I’ve been asked for a honey bun recipe so many times but unfortunately, I’ve never ever had one (always had the drippers for choice!!) so cannot begin to try to devise a recipe for them without knowing how they should look and taste.
Information about them is very scant, even from people who loved them back in the day!
From what I can gather – and please do correct me if I’ve not got this right – it was a rolled dough, rather like a Chelsea bun but not so tall, with a sticky honey glaze on the bottom.
I am intrigued though so may have to give this a go and see if I can’t come up with a recipe!! I’m sure I can fins some willing volunteers to be my guinea pigs!
If anyone does have any more detailed info about what a honey bun consisted of, please do let me know!
It was more like a much more risen lardy cake, with a sugary crusty sticky honey bottom, and the rest a sweet dough with a honey glazed top they were amazing but it’s so hard to find anything like them lol
Thanks for this Simon, that has definitely given me somewhere to start in creating a recipe for honeybuns!
I’ll give it a go and if I come up with anything resembling a honeybun I’ll post the recipe 😊
Happy to know my memories of honey buns from Leopolds on the High Street are not just in my imagination and that others are finding the recipe as elusive! As I remember, they were a devine soft and sweetened yeasted dough in a knot shape with a thick sticky pale honey layer of bliss on the bottom and a thin layer glazed over the bun top. Absolute heaven and I’ve been trying to find a recipe for many years. I’ve lived in Australia for 30 years now and drippers and honey buns are just not a thing here (except in my memory). Did anyone get anywhere lose with their experimentation? Can we start a group of “Bring Back the Honey Bun” enthusiasts? Pleeeeease.
Hi Janie, sorry to say we’ve not managed to devise a recipe for Honey Buns yet – having never had one it’s proving a little difficult to get right!
Hopefully the drippers are an adequate substitute in the meantime!!
I’ll definitely post the recipe when we crack it though 😉
Donna
Hi, great recipe, I’ve used it twice and comes out *almost* like the originals! My baking skills not so great 😊
I remember honey buns and been searching a recipe but can’t find anything close. They were about 80-100mm across, like a folded dough with the sticky base and glazed top. I think to use the dripper dough and make a butter/ sugar/ honey mix for the base and glaze. Will give it a try 👌
Many thanks!
Dan, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Hi Dan, I’m so pleased you are enjoying the recipe for Drippers! The good news is that the more you make them, the better your baking skills will become 😉
I’ve never had a honey bun so I’m finding it difficult to come up with an authentic style recipe but will give it a go later in the year. If you do have a go, please let us know how it turns out 😀
Happy new year to you!
Donna
My mother’s was from Cheltenham, as kids we would wait for her to return from Townsend’s in St Marks area as I recall with warm drippers👍heaven…. Years later when in Cheltenham they were a bulk buy, for family living 150 miles away. Fond memories.
Hi Steve, yes, warm drippers were the absolute best!!
You’ve caused a bit of a debate here actually, with you memory of Townsends being in St Marks as none of us can remember any bakery there at all! There was Leopolds Bakery at Coronation Square but Townsends were in the lower High Street…but we could be wrong 😉 The loss of the independent bakeries from the area did mean that drippers were a much missed treat but many people have found our recipe to make there own and it really is the taste of childhood!
Donna
Back in Cheltenham at the weekend, brought dripping cake from Whole Foods, its the nearest I’ve had since the 50’s and 60’s from Cummings at the end of Waterloo Street. We will try the recipe shortly…now I am living in Devon. Thanks very much for all the comments.
I’ve heard that Whole Foods drippers are maybe the nearest to the taste we remember!
This recipe has been tried by a lot of people now and the comments always say how these taste just as they remember so I hope you enjoy making them 🙂
I have made them in the past and they don’t last too long. As I’m on my own now I dare not make them as I would just have to eat them all lol. I live in Wiltshire now and there is a bakery in Royal Wootton Bassett who makes lardy cakes, but the Cheltenham ones from Townsends were definitely the best.
I know exactly what you mean carol! Once you have a plate of them in front of you they are totally irresistible!…Still, once in a while won’t hurt….and they can be frozen.. 🙂
It has fruit. It is not a Cheltenham Dripper!! Take the fruit out and your there.xx
Making them without fruit is no more authentic than ones made with fruit!
I used to buy drippers from Townsend’s Bakery in the 70’s and 80’s and they sold them with fruit and without, so it is a matter of personal preference.
The recipe does say that you can make it with or without fruit – either way they are delicious 🙂
Wow thank you for such a fantastic recipe :o) I used to live in Cheltenham years ago & yes I loved drippers. I made this today and had some straight out the oven and it was delicious …. so I just had a little extra slice, and another, and another & heck I am now so stuffed I don’t want to move! In a way I hope it doesn’t taste this good when it has cooled otherwise it isn’t going to last 24 hours ;o)
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Marcia! I think most Cheltenham people have a very soft sopt for a good old ‘dripper’ 🙂 I developed this recipe over quite a while, tweaking it here and there to get the authentic taste that we all remember. I have heard that it is nigh on impossible to buy drippers now as the independent bakeries that used to make them are no longer in business. Anyway, it’s much better to be able to make your own, whenever you want them….warm from the oven and not have to queue at 8am to make sure you get one!!
Will be having a go at this too 🙂 love drippers/lardy cake 🙂
This is proving to be a very popular recipe Wendy, even the chaps are giving it a go with fantastic results!
The recipe I used incorporated the fruit into the dough before rolling out -so that you didn’t get a mouthful of just dough – and beat the fat and sugar with some mixed spice to spread over 2/3 of the dough. I live in Gloucestershire too by the way.
That is a good idea Pam as sometimes the fruit takes on a mind of it’s own it seems and won’t stay put during the rolling out of the dough. I will try that next time! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
Hi, you can buy drippers from a bakers in Bath Road. Not sure if the name is Anne’s? They are lovely, also there is a bakers buy the bus station opposite the old Echo offices & they sell drippers..
Thanks for this Karen, Are you maybe thinking of Jane’s Bakery in Bath Road? Their drippers are very popular from what I hear! I don’t know the baker by the bus station but will look for it next time I’m in town 😊👍
Can you freeze this ?
Hi Diane, that’s a good question! To be honest it never lasts long enough in our house to think about freezing any! The next day we just warm it up in the microwave or in a low oven, wrapped in foil. A quick internet search suggests it is totally suitable for freezing so if you do have a go at freezing a portion or two, please let me know how it turns out.
I used to make a double batch and successfully froze one while the other was rapidly eaten 🙂
Thanks for that Pam, it’s good to know that freezing is an option!
Wow!! So glad I found this page. I lived in Hestersway in Cheltenham in the 70s. We used to go to a bakery in a shopping precinct on the way home from school.(Monkscroft juniors) We used to buy these drippers once a week for a treat. I used to love to have a corner piece. They were sticky and crunchy and so yummy 😋 I think Tom Kimmeridge lived somewhere near us, as on one of his programs he filmed the shops where the bakery was and hopefully still is. Lovely memories 😊
Hi Jacquie, thanks for sharing your memories pf drippers and Cheltenham with us 😊 I wasn’t very far from you in the 70’s – I lived in Rowanfield so, very close to Hestersway! I think the bakery would have been Leopolds in Coronation Square, which was a very popular place for cakes (especially drippers!). My mum used to take me in there to by me a cake after I’d been to the dentist!!
Everyone who has made the drippers from this recipe says the taste takes them right back…and of course you can eat all of the corner pieces 😅
Hi Moy! I was growing up in Cheltenham in the 70’s but it was much the same, crowds at the door all determined to get their lardy cakes before they sold out, which was easily before 11am no matter how many they baked!
Did you manage to tempt the locals with this glorious cake?
My uncle used to work for Crouch the bakers in Tewkesbury. Every now and then he would bring us warm dripping cakes which were close to heaven. I am going to give your recipe a go as lardy cakes in Northamptonshire where I now live just aren’t the same.
Hi Pauline, thanks for you comments – so sorry for the delay but it got caught up in a spam folder somehow!
Drippers always seemed to be eaten warm didn’t they!! I think they sold so fast, as the proverbial hot cakes, and we were always so keen to eat them ☺
I hope you have given the recipe a go and they taste just as good as you remember!
Where did you used to get these from in Cheltenham?
Hi Stephen,
When I was a child (many moons ago!!) Drippers were a real treat for us on a Saturday after the shopping trip with my parents to Tesco!
Back then – I’m taking in the 70’s here – there were no out of town superstores so we used to walk into town as Tesco was on the High Street then.
On the way home we would pass Townsends Bakery in the lower High Street, which was where we always got our supplies of drippers from but all of the bakeries in town used to sell them. Leopold’s, which had shops in different parts of the town, is often named as the most popular bakery that sold them!
Thanks for your comment, it’s very much appreciated 😊
Donna
My Grandad was a baker at Townsend’s and my Dad always said he seemed to have lots of friends that wanted to walk to school with him in case they might get a dripping cake when Grandad walked in from the nightshift 🙂
Hi Rebecca, I’m not at all surprised that your dad had many friends! Townsends was one of the best places to go for drippers in my opinion but I’m sure others had their favourite places too! The corner ones were always the greatest prize!
Crambury place where it joined the Strand
Sounds like the LARDEY CAKE I know and love from living in Bisley, Glos in the 1970’s..The bakery in Stroud had crowds at the door from 9.00 am until they ran out..
Now live in Mid Wales and am going to try to tempt the locals with this SPECIALITY
In Dolgellau, there was a bakery in the centre that sold honey buns which I think are similar. I used to buy them in 1985, and to my suprise they still sold them in 2012 when I was last passing through.
Hi Steven, thanks so much for your comment, from what I can gather Honey Buns were similar to Drippers but different enough to divide opinion on which was the best! Honey Buns still have devoted followers here in Cheltenham but I don’t see any for sale here any more – If I find myself in North Wales I will definitely hunt down this bakery so that I can try a honey bun for the fist time 😁👍