Ahh, Welsh cakes, little goodies sent from heaven to my homeland of Wales. They hold a special place in my heart as they’ve been part of my life since I was a child. I remember being sat on the draining board (don’t worry, it wasn’t wet) in my Nan’s kitchen while she made big batches of them for the family, helping to cut out the circles of these little scone-like cakes.
There are lots of recipes for them and every family seems to have a slightly different tradition but I follow the same method as my Nan and her sister, my Great Auntie Den, who still makes the best Welsh cakes I’ve ever tried. In fact it was a batch of her Welsh cakes that helped me make friends on my first day of university and I once used the recipe to teach British culture classes to 300 Spanish students over two days (It was a lot of butter). Here’s the not-so-secret recipe:
INGREDIENTS:
250g self-raising flour
125g softened butter (Stork for Cakes works well)
80g caster sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
100g currants (or other dried fruit)
1 egg
A splash of milk (if needed)
Icing sugar for dusting
Makes around 25-30
METHOD:
1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the butter. Rub together with your fingertips until the it looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Add the sugar, mixed spice and currants and stir to distribute evenly.
3. Add the egg and mix together with a wooden spoon or a knife until a soft dough forms. Add a little milk if the mix is too dry. The dough should be quite sticky but easy enough to roll out with a little flour.
4. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out the dough until it is a bit thicker than a £1 coin or a little under a centimetre.
5. Using a standard pastry cutter or a tumbler/wine glass, cut out circles of the dough. Roll and cut the excess again until all the dough is used up.
6. Heat a heavy-based griddle pan or bakestone to a medium heat and grease with a little butter. Wipe off any excess with a piece of kitchen roll. Cook the Welsh cakes in batches for about 3 minutes on each side or until they’re cooked through without burning.
7. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with a strong cuppa.
Many people, including me and my Great Auntie Den, like them almost burnt so the outside is crunchy. You can serve these little Welsh goodies warm or cold and they will keep for at least a week sealed in an airtight container (or an old Quality Street tin if in my Nan’s house).
