Welsh Cakes
Tonight Wales are playing France in the Six Nations and I found my mind turning to Welsh Cakes. Have you ever had one? They are little bitesize portions of heaven. They are sweet but not too sweet, more than moorish, easy to munch and are usually consumed on top of a mountain (or is that just me?!) but I think they should just be eaten when you feel GOOD! Guess what, they only take 15 minutes to make and that includes cleaning up after yourself in the kitchen too!
The first time I ever had a Welsh Cake was on Hadrian’s Wall and the second time – a few weeks ago, I was in Wales near Barafundle Bay feeling windswept but so very very happy and hey presto, these little fella’s were brought out of a backpack and munched looking at a magnificent coastal view.
You will love these because they are so easy to make and you can experiment with flavours, or just keep it traditional. I made a Manuka honey and ginger, a dark chocolate batch and also a traditional version too.
Ingredients
350g self raising flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
175g butter
100g good quality chocolate (broken into small pieces)
125g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon of milk
To finish
Caster sugar for sprinkling
1. Use a griddle or heavy-based frying pan, grease lightly with oil and heat gently.
2. Measure the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and chocolate pieces.
3. Beat the egg with the milk, then add this to the mixture and mix to a firm dough. If you need to add a splash more of milk, do so but don’t add too much.
4. Roll out the dough on to a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 5mm (1/4 inch) then cut into rounds with a 3 inch round cutter.
5. Cook the Welsh Cakes on the hot griddle on a low heat for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Cook gently otherwise the sides will burn and the middle will be uncooked.
6. Cool on a wire rack, then sprinkle with caster sugar. Consume in the next 24 hours.
Welsh cakes – gift
For the Manuka honey and ginger version – omit the chocolate and add a teaspoon of ground ginger and a generous teaspoon of Manuka Honey before adding the egg and milk. You might need to add less milk because the honey does a good job of binding all the ingredients together.
Traditional version – replace the 100g of chocolate with 100g currants and also add 3/4 level teaspoon ground mixed spice at this stage.
I’ve bagged mine all up and will be giving them as gifts. Fingers crossed Wales win the Rugby!