Fantasy Veggie Dinner Guest – THOMAS SHELBY

To be fair, The Peaky Blinders don’t seem to eat much, preferring to spend their time drinking and fighting. This, however, is based on an old Black Country recipe which Zelda thinks that the charismatic leader, Thomas Shelby, might enjoy if she managed to get him to sit down for long enough (or it would make a good snack to take on one of his 'jobs').

This veggie version of Brummie Bacon Cakes was always going to include my favourite fake bacon…

BRUMMIE 'BACON' CAKES

1tbsp oil

4 rashers of vegetarian bacon

225g self-raising flour

25g butter, cut into small pieces

75g mature cheddar, grated

160ml milk

1tbsp tomato ketchup

½tsp salt

Heat the oil in a pan and cook the bacon. Then drain and cut bacon into small pieces.

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and add the butter. Rub between fingertips until the texture of breadcrumbs. 

(This can be done in a blender if preferred – just put back in a large bowl afterwards.)

Add the bacon bits and 25g of the cheese.Then pour in the ketchup and 150ml of the milk and mix all together well to make a dough.
Flour the work surface and shape the dough into a thick circle. Cut into 8 wedges.


Place the wedges on a baking tray covered with greaseproof paper, coat with the rest of the milk and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

Bake at Gas 4/ 180°C/ 350°F for about 25 minutes.