Welsh cakes
Small, lightly spiced griddle cakes studded with currants, cooked on a hot bakestone until golden and dusted with caster sugar while warm.
Method
- 1
Mix the flour, sugar, mixed spice and salt in a large bowl.
- 2
Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
- 3
Stir in the currants.
- 4
Add the egg and mix with a knife into a firm dough, like shortcrust pastry, adding a splash of milk only if it will not come together.
- 5
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 5 mm thick.
- 6
Cut out rounds with a 6 cm fluted cutter, then press the trimmings together and cut more.
- 7
Heat a bakestone or heavy frying pan over medium-low heat and rub it lightly with butter.
- 8
Cook a batch of cakes until golden brown underneath and starting to puff slightly.
- 9
Turn them over and cook until the second side is golden and the edges no longer look raw.
- 10
Cook the remaining cakes the same way, keeping the heat moderate so they cook through before they darken.
- 11
Dust the warm cakes with caster sugar and serve warm or cold.
Notes
- Test the heat with one cake first. If it browns in under 2 minutes, turn the heat down or the centres will be doughy.
- Many Welsh cooks use half butter and half lard, which gives a shorter, more crumbly texture.
- They keep for up to a week in an airtight tin. Split and sandwiched with jam, they are known as jam splits.
Equipment
Large mixing bowl, Rolling pin, 6 cm fluted cutter, Bakestone, griddle or heavy frying pan, Palette knife, Wire rack