Gur cake is a

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ma ...

confection Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categorie ...

traditionally associated with

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland. Known as chester cake in other areas of Ireland and elsewhere, and gudge or donkey's gudge in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, it is similar to what is termed '' flies graveyard'' in parts of the UK, and consists of a thick layer of filling between two thin layers of pastry. The filling is a dark brown paste, containing a mixture of cake/bread crumbs, dried fruits (sultana

raisin A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the d ...

s etc.), and a sweetener/binder. It has traditionally been a cheap confection, made from bakery leftovers. Its name is thought to be a contraction of " gurrier cake". Children who skipped school were known as ''gurriers'' and the act of skipping school became known as to be 'on the gur'. As Gur cake was made of leftovers, it was one of the cheaper items in bakeries and, therefore, one of the few items affordable to a child 'on the gur'. In bakeries, it is typically sold cut into squares of about thick. In Dublin, Gur cake is regarded as symbolic of working-class areas, being highlighted in books such as ''Gur Cake and Coal Blocks'' (1976) by historian Éamonn Mac Thomáis.

References

{{reflist Irish cuisine Pastries