Bedfordshire Clanger Recipe: A Traditional Regional Treat

The Midlands' answer to the Cornish pasty, the Bedfordshire clanger is a regional hero that's making a comeback. Originally, a clanger consisted of a boiled suet pastry case filled at one end with the leftovers of a Sunday roast and, at the other, a dollop of homemade jam. Main course and dessert in one handheld roll – ideal for farm labourers and miners. It fell out of favour over the years, but you'll find some bakers across Hertfordshire, Nottinghamshire and, of course, Bedfordshire, are reviving the clanger in a modern guise, with sausage meat, jam or stewed fruit and an oven-baked method akin a sausage roll and therefore more familiar to modern pastry eaters.

For me, the clanger is an opportunity to bring together that timeless combination of well-seasoned, juicy pork and something sweet but also a little tart, like plum jam or apples. Yes, the jammy end is, strictly speaking, for pudding, but since the fillings will mingle a little, it's best to embrace that and choose a jam which goes well with pork – avoid strawberry jam, which is far too sweet.

Bedfordshire clangers are, therefore, especially fun to make in late summer or early autumn when you have just made a huge vat of plum jam and are looking for something to do with it. There's something appropriately autumnal about a warm, suet pastry pie filled with piping hot pork and tart jam – a great way to embrace the change in seasons.

The pastries will keep chilled for two days and they make a great allotment (or office) packed lunch.

How to make Bedfordshire clanger

Bedfordshire clangers. Jonathan Gregson / Good Food

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 300g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
• 75g shredded suet
• 75g cold butter, cubed
• 1 egg, beaten

For the fillings:

• 4 pork sausages
• 1 eating apple, about 150g (skin on, cut into small pieces)
• 4 sage leaves, finely chopped
• 200g plum jam

Method

1. Tip the flour into a bowl with 1tsp salt. Add the suet and butter, and rub into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 3-4tbsp cold water and squeeze the crumbs together to form a dough, adding more water if necessary. Press the dough into a flat disc, wrap and chill for 30 mins.
2. Meanwhile, to make the filling, squeeze the sausagemeat from the sausage skins into a bowl, and combine with the chopped apple and sage
3. Dust the work surface with a little flour and split the dough into four even balls. For each ball, roll out to a roughly 20cm square about ½cm thick (don’t worry if the edges are a little uneven). Mould a quarter of the sausage mixture into a log shape and put along the middle of the top half. Spoon 2tbsp jam along the middle of the bottom half.
4. Brush the exposed edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg, then fold over the top and bottom ends to meet in the middle and enclose the fillings. Turn the clangers over so the seal is on the bottom, and use a fork to press the ends and seal. Make a few small slashes along the length using a sharp knife to allow steam to escape during baking. Will keep chilled for up to a day.
5. Heat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas mark 6 and transfer to a baking tray. Brush with the rest of the egg and bake for 25-30 mins until golden. Cool for at least 15 mins before eating, starting with the savoury end, followed by the jammy end.

This recipe was created by Cassie Best from our friends at Good Food.

Serve with

Plum jam for filling Bedfordshire clangers. Getty Images

Bedfordshire clangers are a great way to use homemade jam. I find a tart jam like plum jam works best, but I also like to experiment with another tangy jams such as apple jam or even gooseberry jam from our sister publication, Good Food.

Clangers were invented to be eaten out and about, so try them in your next picnic spread or make a batch for next level packed lunches.