Wet Nellies ; tell us about them

[Gerry Jones]

Hello everyone,
I thought the internet and yoliverpool would be a mine of info about Wet Nellies, but I can hardly find anything. What I'm really after is a PICTURE (or a decent drawing) of one. Any offers, anyone?

In the meantime, here's what Fritz Spiegel says in a footnote in "Lern Yerself Scouse" Book One.
"Wet neller" "Wet Nelly" = Nelson Cake"
"a cake made from compressed broken biscuits, pastry remnants etc, with dried fruit added, the whole soaked in syrup or burnt sugar. Frank Shaw recollects that the lowest slices were the most sought-after, since the syrup had soaked to the bottom of the pile."

My own memory from 1950s is rather different; imagine two layers of pastry with a one-inch gap between them filled with leftover/unsold bits of cake & biscuit and dried fruit all mashed together, probably with syrup. Cut into squares and sold as "belly-wedges" - or "Chester Cakes" if people came round for tea. Here's my attempt at what they looked like.

[shytalk]

I remember Chester cakes, they are as you describe. Wet Nellies were more like a slice of bread pudding.

[ChrisGeorge]

Hello Gerry

There is at least one cookery site that claims that the wet nelly and bread pudding are one and the same thing. See

http://www.recipezaar.com/191329

Chris

[shytalk]

That is the way I remember it Chris. Bread pudding when just cooked was served hot with custard on it. The leftovers were eaten in the hand like a slice of cake and were called Wet Nellies.

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi shy and Gerry

I asked my 86-year-old Mum yesterday morning whether she remembered wet nellies and I told her of the website where the person claimed a wet nelly and bread pudding were the same thing. For what it's worth, she was adamant that they were two different things but she was unable to be more specific about the ingredient of a wet nelly except that, as she recalled, it was something like jelly (jello to the Yanks),

Chris

[lindylou]

I remember them. havn't seen them in a long time though.

Does anyone remember Russian slices and what were they like ? Apparently my grandad liked them but I've never seen a Russian slice. They must have stopped making them a long time ago.

[chippie]

I still like a wet nellie when I can get hold of one. The last time I had one was about twelve months ago from Greggs I think it was who sold them. You can,t beat getting your teeth into a wet nellie.:shock:

[shytalk]

I still like a wet nellie when I can get hold of one. The last time I had one was about twelve months ago from Greggs I think it was who sold them. You can,t beat getting your teeth into a wet nellie.:shock:

Give us a true description Chippie, we've got a dispute in the definition.:PDT_Aliboronz_24:

[MariaC]

Well I think wet nellies are disgusting. Two slabs of thick, underdone pastry with currants an' stuff inside. Yuk.
My uncle used to take us to a cafe on the dock road, near to the Coberg and the Highland home. They sold Wet Nellies there, but what was even worse was their toast ! It was burnt black an then scraped to a golden brown.
There would have been more taste, licking the tarmac in Hill Street.

[chippie]

I think Maria c has just described them perfectly. So moist and full of goodness. I can just taste them now, ooooh must go for a cuppa to go with them.:unibrow:

[iain]

Not been there for a while but there's a snack shop at Llyn Ogwen in North Wales that sells these. Hard crunchy pastry, huge thick filling of currants, and coated in sugar. Great fuel for yomping up the mountains :PDT11

[ChrisGeorge]

Not been there for a while but there's a snack shop at Llyn Ogwen in North Wales that sells these. Hard crunchy pastry, huge thick filling of currants, and coated in sugar. Great fuel for yomping up the mountains :PDT11

Hi Iain

What you are describing sounds like an eccles cake or a fly pie.

Chris

[iain]

Wasn't one of those Chris (big fan of them too) - these were square open-sided things like in the picture above. Delicious too :unibrow: