Meat cake

The name can describe a savoury baked dish made with meat, but it is not one standard recipe: some versions are enclosed in pastry, while others are shaped from minced meat. Check the ingredients or ask how it is made before treating it as a meat pasty.

Cover it loosely with foil and warm it in an oven at 180 °C until hot all the way through; uncover it for the last few minutes if you want the outside crisp. For a thick piece, check the centre reaches 75 °C.

Yes. Cool it promptly, wrap individual portions well and freeze; thaw in the fridge, then reheat until piping hot throughout. If it has pastry, reheating uncovered for the final few minutes helps restore a crisp crust.

For a filling meal, serve it with mashed potato and peas, or with roasted root vegetables and gravy. A sharp pickle or mustard cuts through the richness, especially if the cake has pastry.

A meat pasty is a specific hand-held pastry parcel, usually folded over its filling; meat cake is a less fixed name and may be a loaf or a pastry bake. The listed values per 100 g are the same for these two entries, but that does not mean every recipe is identical.

A 100 g portion provides 22 g of protein. The amount you get depends on the portion you serve.