Grandad’s Dublin Gur Cake Recipe – Irish Chester Squares

A traditional gur cake is a simple yet delicious spiced fruit slice paired with buttery shortbread and the perfect recipe for using leftover cake or stale bread! Inspired by my Dad, we tried this historical recipe, which is now fondly called Grandad’s cake in our house and is a warm favorite! 

My dad was born in the Liberties in Dublin. I won't share his age( and he's so fit, you likely would never guess it!), but he's an awesome grandad to seven grandad children who think the world of him!

His childhood was spent playing on the streets, and he told us of the time when he and a neighbor ran away from home. They had got hold of some gur cake, and the young lads took that as their cue to take off.  You see, 'going on the gur' meant running away from school.  They didn't go far, and the persistent calling of their mothers to come home for dinner had them back home shortly after dark. But he remembers the sense of adventure.


His story inspired me to write a Gur Cake recipe - or Chester Squares as they're called in the rest of Ireland. Dublin having a culture of its own.
 

What makes a Gur Cake?

The original recipe includes thin layers of shortcrust pastry with a soft, sweet, and chewy inside flavored with warm spices. It tastes not completely unlike a mince pie! 

Going back, it was traditionally made using the scrapings from the chopping board, cake crumbs, stale cake, leftover cake pieces, and leftover stale bread –  it’s not a fancy cake filling! Looking at older recipes, there also seems to be a million and one ways to make a gur cake.

 

The name Gur Cake is thought to come from the word ‘gurrier’. When I was a kid, to be a gurrier meant to be a really rough person, a kid who would start a fight. But when my dad was a child, to be ‘on the gur’ meant to skip school or even run away from home.  In the rest of Ireland, this cake can have a multitude of names, including Chester cake, Chester slice, Chester Bread, or Chester Squares, and in Cork, for some reason, it’s called  Donkeys Gudge!

My dad remembers occasionally being sent to the bakery to get bread, which he would nibble on all the way home. But I'm certain my granny, frugal out of necessity, would not have bought bread to make gur cake! She definitely would have used whatever she had on hand not to waste a crumb. 

I chose to use sweet shortbread, but many recipes for gur cake use plain shortbread, as is used in an Irish apple pie. 

I also don’t see why a whole wheat shortbread wouldn’t work with a Gur cake. I’ll experiment with it and update this post with the results! 

My best tips for making this cake 

Focus on the consistency of the filling: This is one of those great recipes to use up leftover bread or old cake, but the filling may vary each time you bake it which makes following an exact recipe tricky.

Not too wet and not too dry: You can add a little milk or golden syrup if it’s too dry. It is too wet, and you can either add some bread crumbs or a spoon of flour. It won’t be like a normal cake batter; it will still be a little crumbly, and can be quite wet! But if you press it together, you should be able to make a ball in your hands.

Don’t soak: If you use leftover cake to make this recipe, particualy one with frosting, you likely won’t need to soak it in water and can add a few tablespoons of water to the filling as needed. The same goes with stale cake; just break it into small pieces and add water or milk to the bowl.

Use less sugar: If you use a sweet cake, you can use less sugar.

​A small gratin form is perfect for this recipe: Mine is 10cm x 20cm. You can also use 2 bread forms.

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Gur Cake Ingredients

For the pastry:

250g/ 2 sticks of butter, at room temperature

350g/ 3 cups plain flour

110g/ 1/2 a cup granulated sugar

Generous pinch of salt

You can also use a ready-made sheet of pastry. 

For the Filling

 6-8 slices stale bread, crusts removed – leftover cake pieces, or stale cake can also be used – what you use isn’t hugely important; what you are looking for is the consistency of your filling. 

100g / 1/2 Cup Brown sugar – If you use cake for your filling, you can reduce the amount of sugar. 

1 Egg – beaten

3 tbsp Plain flour – you may need a little more or a little less

1/tsp Baking powder

2 tsp mixed spice, allspice, or gingerbread spice

200g / 1 cup Dried fruit – raisins, sultanas, and chopped dates are perfect, but you can experiment with finely chopped prunes, apricots, and why not figs? 

Optional: a sprinkle of icing sugar to serve

You Will Need: A small baking tin or two loaf tins

Method

 

The Pastry

1. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl by stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon.

The aim is to dissolve the sugar in the butter to create a smooth paste. 

2. Add the flour and mix gently until combined. If the dough is a little dry, you can add a few teaspoons of water.

3. Form 2 balls of dough, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for 20 minutes.

The Filling

I used some old whole wheat sourdough slices that were rock hard after a few days in the bread basket- it tuned out just fine, and I like the idea that I snuck in some fiber! I did remove the hard crust after soaking, as it was impossible before, but I'm sure you could zoom up the crust in a food processor and use it, too. You can also use white bread! Using what you have at home might mean you get a slightly different result each time you make it, but sure isn't that the charm?

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F

1. Soak the bread in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. 

2. Drain the bread and squeeze to remove the excess water. It’s ok if there is a little water left.

3. In a large bowl, combine the soaked bread, brown sugar, beaten egg, flour, baking powder, mixed spice, and dried fruit. Mix well until the ingredients are evenly combined.

Add a little milk, water, or golden syrup if the mixture seems too dry. 

3. Roll out the balls of pastry on a lightly floured work surface or between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of about 3mm.

4. Grease a cake tin with a little butter or line it with a little parchment paper. Place one layer into the prepared tin.

Don't worry too much about getting the pastry perfectly even; a few holes here and there are completely fine!

5. Press the fruit mixture into the tin, ensuring it is evenly distributed.

6. Place the remaining pastry on top of the filling, pressing down gently. Use a fork to nag the top of the pastry and bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is set.

Allow the cake to cool in the cake pan for 10 minutes before slicing the cake into squares and transfering to cooling rack to cool completely.

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Serving suggestions

Serve when cool with a cup of strong tea!

I doubt this is traditional, but I can really recommend a slice of warm gur cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!  

Storage

Store leftover gur cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator or for up to two days at room temperature. 

Variations

Some recipes soak the bread in strong tea (traditionally black tea!) instead of water. 

​Many traditional gur cake recipes use an unsweetened shortbread pastry.

​Some recipes call for butter in the filling, and some don’t. The Irish in me can never resist the urge to add butter to everything, but feel free to try without!

I tested it out with one thin layer of shortcrust on top of the filling and served it hot with a sprinkle of powdered sugar – divine!

 It's so fun to think that there was a recipe connected to one of my dad's core childhood memories. He can't remember much about the cake, but he remembers it being a brown fruit slice that was filling and delicious. To the best of his memory, there was no shortcrust on his mothers's cake. It's not impossible that his family, with 10 children, couldn't afford the luxury of a layer of pastry. Or the time needed to prepare one.  It just goes to show there a million ways to bake a Gur Cake!

Up until now, I’ve shared many Swedish recipes on my site, but now it’s time to start sharing some real Irish food. Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments below, and stay tuned for more! 

Let me know what you think in the comments below! I love connecting with you all and I read and enjoy every email and comment and appreciate your feedback!