Welsh recipes for St David's Day

[Becky]

Today is St David's Day! Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus!

If you're looking for some good traditional Welsh recipes, here is a good place to start:

Welsh Cakes - a small, thin, slightly spiced flat cake with dried fruit

Welsh Rarebit - the best cheese on toast you'll ever have!

Bara Brith which means 'Speckled Bread' - a yeasted bread with spices and dried fruit​

If you have any favourite Welsh recipes feel free to share them here!

 

[Lee_C]

Hello. I had a go at making Welsh Cakes this week for the first time. My first batch wasn't quite right simply because I wasn't getting the frying temperature right. They were cooking too quickly on the outside leaving the inside with some raw dough.

Second batch however came out spot on, nice and soft on the inside, absolutely delicious!
I dusted with my homemade caster sugar. I uses sultanas instead of currants, and there's nutmeg, cinnamon plus ground mixed spices consisting of cinnamon, coriander seed, nutmeg, clove, pimento and ginger.
Here's my photos and recipe which has slight variations from the one above.



225g Self raising flour
75g Caster sugar and a pinch of salt
100g Diced chilled butter
1/2tspn Cinnamon
1/4 tspn Nutmeg
1/4 tspn Mixed spice
Rub together with hands until you get a damp sand texture.

Add 50g currants or sultanas or some of each and combine with mixture.
Make a well in the centre.
Add about 3 tablespoons of milk to 1 egg yolk and combine to make a fairly sticky dough. If too dry add a little more milk.

Flour worktop and roll out dough to about
1 centimetre thick.
Use a 5 to 7cm diameter cookie cutter (fluted or straight) in the dough to form the individual cakes. Re-roll unused dough to cut more cakes.

Rub a thin coating of butter or oil in frying pan.
I used coconut oil.
The pan wants to be around 350 to 365F.
Cook cakes until golden brown on outside. About 2 to 4 minutes on one side, flip them and do another 2 to 4 minutes. 4 minutes was just right for mine.

Dip in caster sugar while warm.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hello. I had a go at making Welsh Cakes this week for the first time. My first batch wasn't quite right simply because I wasn't getting the frying temperature right. They were cooking too quickly on the outside leaving the inside with some raw dough.

Second batch however came out spot on, nice and soft on the inside, absolutely delicious!
I dusted with my homemade caster sugar. I uses sultanas instead of currants, and there's nutmeg, cinnamon plus ground mixed spices consisting of cinnamon, coriander seed, nutmeg, clove, pimento and ginger.
Here's my photos and recipe which has slight variations from the one above.

View attachment 2089 View attachment 2090

225g Self raising flour
75g Caster sugar and a pinch of salt
100g Diced chilled butter
1/2tspn Cinnamon
1/4 tspn Nutmeg
1/4 tspn Mixed spice
Rub together with hands until you get a damp sand texture.

Add 50g currants or sultanas or some of each and combine with mixture.
Make a well in the centre.
Add about 3 tablespoons of milk to 1 egg yolk and combine to make a fairly sticky dough. If too dry add a little more milk.

Flour worktop and roll out dough to about
1 centimetre thick.
Use a 5 to 7cm diameter cookie cutter (fluted or straight) in the dough to form the individual cakes. Re-roll unused dough to cut more cakes.

Rub a thin coating of butter or oil in frying pan.
I used coconut oil.
The pan wants to be around 350 to 365F.
Cook cakes until golden brown on outside. About 2 to 4 minutes on one side, flip them and do another 2 to 4 minutes. 4 minutes was just right for mine.

Dip in caster sugar while warm.

Those look delicious! I’ve never eaten a Welsh cake, just crumpets and English muffins. It looks like an English muffin with fruit.

 

[Lee_C]

Norcalbaker, thanks for your comment Hmm, how to describe it. I would say it's got a similar texture to another english bake called a scone, which also has dried fruit in it and is usually eaten with butter, jam and cream spread on it.

The Welsh cake is sweeter, thinner and more spicy. It could also be described as a soft cookie. A Welsh cake is often also eaten buttered but I find they're sweet and flavoursome to eat as they are straight out of the pan. Lovely when warm, brings out all the spices even more.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Norcalbaker, thanks for your comment Hmm, how to describe it. I would say it's got a similar texture to another english bake called a scone, which also has dried fruit in it and is usually eaten with butter, jam and cream spread on it.

The Welsh cake is sweeter, thinner and more spicy. It could also be described as a soft cookie. A Welsh cake is often also eaten buttered but I find they're sweet and flavoursome to eat as they are straight out of the pan. Lovely when warm, brings out all the spices even more.

Now I’m very curious about these welsh cakes I’m gonna have to give them a try

 

[Lee_C]

Absolutely worth a shot, you'll love them! There's a few YouTube videos but here's the one I liked the most and followed.

The only thing to watch out for is the frying temperature in the pan. Doesn't want to be too high (around 350F is good) or the inside won't be fully cooked by the time the outside is already golden. I'd love to know how you get on.

 

[Becky]

They look gorgeous @Lee_C! You've made me want to make some too!

 

[Lee_C]

Thanks Becky, that's quite a compliment! Yes try them, they're so yummy.