To make the filling:
Mix all of the filling ingredients together.
To make the pastry dough:
1. Rub 1 ounce of butter into the flour, salt and sugar.
2. Make a well into the flour and add the water.
3. Work the dough with your hands until a smooth dough is obtained. Leave to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Lamination of dough:
1. Mold the dough into a ball, make a knife-cut at right angles, and with the rolling pin form a square with the corners rolled extra thinly.
2. Plasticize the butter and form it into a square.
3. Place this diagonally in the center of the dough and fold over the corners of the dough to meet in the center, completely enveloping the butter.
4. Roll the dough out to a rectangular 8 inches by 13 inches, fold the dough into three lengthwise, move the seams of the pastry to the right. Proceed with step 4 five more times, leaving the dough to relax 20 minutes between each fold.
5. Cover the puff pastry and leave to rest 4 hours or preferably overnight.
Time saver: If you don't want to make the dough, a quality store-bought puff pastry would work well.
To assemble the Eccles cakes:
1. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to 1/16 inch.
2. Cut the pastry into discs using a 4-inch cutter.
3. Place a large teaspoon of the filling in the center of each disc. Fold the edges into the center like a small pouch, then turn over.
4. Press down the Eccles cake with fingers then roll with a rolling pin and a little sugar and flour to 4 inches round.
5. Place the pastries on a clean baking sheet, leave to rest for 30 minutes.
6. Cut two or three slits in the top of each cake.
7. Bake in a hot oven at 420 degrees for around 20 minutes until crisp and golden brown.
To make the Devonshire ice cream:
1. Spilt the vanilla pod in two and scrape out the seeds. Place the seeds and empty pod into a pot and add the sugar, milk, manufacturing cream and the glucose. Boil all of the ingredients together.
2. Once boiled, add the Devonshire cream and leave to cool, preferably overnight.
3. The next day remove the vanilla pod and turbine the mixture in an ice cream machine until set.
Chefs notes: A quality store-bought ice cream or gelato could be substituted for the homemade ice cream.
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