Sunday, October 22, 2006

How to make Welsh Cakes, as requested.


A Welsh Cake is a wonderful tea time snack that those clever folks over in Wales serve up to visitors. Easy to make but one does need a griddle, cast-iron skillet or similar.
250 grams self-raising flour
125 grams butter
125 grams caster sugar
125 grams raisins (I often put in a bit less)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 egg
and about 2 tablespoons of milk

Cube the butter and rub it into the flour
Stir in the sugar, the spice and the raisins
Crack and beat the egg, stir it into the mix
Add the milk and bring it together to form a ball
more milk if it is too dry and crumbly

Lightly flour the surface you'll be working on
Turn the dough out onto the surface
Knead lightly and roll out to about 1 cm thickness
Traditionally one cuts rounds with fluted edges, but as you see I used a star cutter

I heat the cast iron skillet slowly on a medium heat while I'm making the mixture
Turning it down slightly if it starts smoking.
Don't add oil!
The secret is a low but solid heat, if that makes sense. So that the cakes can be in the pan for a while to cook thoroughly without burning. that's the tricky part, and I often burn a few but eat them anyway.
Golden brown on the first side? Turn them over and do the same on the other.
They keep well in a sealed container, especially sense they are not fried in oil.

I got my recipe from a very reliable magazine, but I'm sure there are many variations.

2 comments:

Sam said...

thank you so much!

I guess I need to by griddle.

I actually bought one last week but it was the type with grooves on it so it won't work for this.

next i need to learn to make scotch pancakes and crumpets.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recipe!!! Yeah go ahead and tag me!!! I am working on a couple of things just haven't gotten them finished yet.