This is it, the bake that sparked my Great British Baking Show Bake-Along, the Bedfordshire Clanger! This bake was the signature bake for Forgotten Bakes Week and I wanted to bake with other bakers so much I decided to make a group to do just that!
I watched as the bakers made their “Bedfordshire Clangers” and they talked about how this was a Traditional Bedfordshire Hand Pie for agricultural or metal workers; I wanted to make a Clanger SO BAD.
So I made Bedfordshire Clangers
But I didn’t just want to make one; I wanted to part of a bake-off or group baking project and make Clangers. Boom, look where we are, right in the middle of my wish to participate in the Great British Baking Show, make clangers and fortuitously use up our leftover turkey. This week is winning for me, how about you?
Great British Baking Show Bake-Along
Is an easy, fun way to make new foods, meet new friends and hone your baking, frosting, steaming, cooking and decorating skills. Plus we even have our own weekly Star(Bucks) Baker who wins a 10 dollar coffee card. It’s been so much fun, and I hope we keep having fun with new bakes in the new year, join us!
Bedfordshire Clangers
In the show, they said that Clangers were a baked lunch hand pie sent with agricultural or metal workers. But a little research showed that perhaps they started life as a boiled dumpling and that the hand pie on the show was an invention of the 90s when a bakery made and sold them.
I don’t know about that; a hand pie sounds a lot better than cold boiled dumpling for lunch out in the field.
The Clangers on the Great British Baking Show were roughly 10 inches long and 2-3 inches wide. One end of the clanger gets filled with a savory filling, and the other end was a sweet pie-like filling. They were roughly 2/3 savory and 1/3 sweet with a little dough wall dividing them.
Leftover Turkey
For my Clangers I used leftover turkey, potatoes and a bit of gravy for the savory end. You can use ANY leftovers for the savory filling, plan on about 4-4 1/2cups of filling to fill the Clangers and make sure it’s not too wet.
If you’re mixing up leftovers, I highly recommend warming them to pull them together and then let the mixture cool off before filling and wrapping.
I gently heated the chopped potatoes and then add the gravy and leftover turkey and mixed them well. Then I tasted it, adjusted the seasonings and set it aside.
It’s important to cool your filling before using it. Too hot of a filling will start your hand pie dough melting before it gets a chance to bake.
The Sweet End of a Clanger
For the sweet end of the hand pie, I used four apples on the edge of being too ripe to make a bit of an apple pie filling. You’re going to need roughly 2 1/2 cups of filling for the sweet end. Each hand pie will get a nice full 1/3 cup or so of sweet filling.
You can ABSOLUTELY use a can of pre-made pie filling. I haven’t done that but you could. It may be juicier than you want but it would work!
Hand Pie Dough
And don’t worry this recipe includes the Hand Pie Dough recipe as well. Flaky crispy and perfect for rolling hand pies. It’s not sturdy enough to pack to the field but it will make it to your plate! Enjoy!
Clangers
Clangers are a traditional Bedfordshire Hand Pie. 2/3 savory, 1/3 sweet with a flaky crust. Featured on the Great British Baking Show, perfect for leftovers.
Ingredients
Hand Pie Pastry
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup butter
Hand Pie Fillings
- 4 cups mixed lefotvoers
- 2 1/2 cups sweet filling, can be pie filling, jams or jellies, sliced apples
- 1 egg
- 1 TBSP water
Instructions
Hand Pie Dough
- in the bowl of a food processor mix the flour, salt and sugar
- chop the butter and add in to the flour mix, pulse to combine
- slowing drizzle in the cold water pulsing the food processor until the dough clumps up
- divide in 6 equal pieces, wrap lightly and chill for one hour
Clangers
- preheat oven to 375˚
- warm fillings and get them prepped and ready to go
- set out a small dish of cold water for adding the dough wall and sealing the edges
- lightly dust your work surface, roll out each piece of dough to a roughly 10x5 inche rectangle
- lay trim off any uneven edges, save for dividing the filling
- make a small dough wall, dampen with water, place 2/3 of the way down the dough
- add roughly 3/4 cup of savory filling up to the wall
- add around 1/3 cup or so sweet filling to sweet end
- wet the edges and fold the long edges up and over lap them on top, pinch the ends shut
- place on a baking tray, poke holes or slash the sweet end
- repeat with remaing dough and fillings
- beat the egg with the water and brush over the top of the clangers
- bake in the pre heated oven for 45-50 minutes or until crispy and lightly browned
Notes
- sweet fillings can vary widely, if using fresh fruit cook until the juices release, taste and add sugar and spice as needed
Amazing recipe! I’ve never heard of Clangers. The idea of savory and sweet in the same pastry is brilliant!
I know! Wish I could take credit for it but alas I can’t!
What is the oven temperature?
Fixed that thanks! 375˚ But they can be baked at 350 OR 400 if you adjust the baking time accordingly.
CAN THEY BE MADE THE DAY BEFORE?
I don’t know. I’ve never done it that way.
Yeah so it says 1.15 hrs to make. How does that add up when you have to chill the sought for 1 hour?
Yep, that was probably lost when I changed recipe cards, sometimes things don’t transfer over properly. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.