Our Traditional Welsh Cakes Recipe is an easy teatime treat that combines the convenience of a pancake, with the chewy deliciousness of a cookie or warm scone. A wonderful way to celebrate St. David's Day – hot off the bakestone skillet or as a sweet feature on your DIY Ultimate Bagel Bar Brunch board.
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How would you like a piping hot little Welsh cake straight from the griddle? We bet you can’t resist! During the photo shoot for this recipe, we somehow managed to eat 12 little tea cakes. Are you shocked or laughing? After all, we had to get that perfect bite shot! (smiling) Thank goodness this recipe makes between 40-42 little individual cake servings. There were plenty left for the kid’s lunches and even enough to share with the neighbors.
Traditional Welsh Cakes Recipe
When you take your first bite of a traditional Welsh cake, you will notice the soft chewiness and the tender melt-in-your-mouth delicious cake inside. Since these little Welsh treats are cooked on the stove top, they have the appearance of a very thick (but small) pancake. They are smooth on the top and bottom and puffed up around the edges.
Their texture is between a pancake, scone or maybe even a chewy cookie. Bursting with delicious spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and tender raisins. You can eat these tea cakes at room temperature, but they are best served hot off the skillet dusted with a little sugar. All we can say is that they are addictive!
Why Are They Called Welsh Cakes?
This traditional Welsh cake recipe originated in Wales, a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Traditionally, these little teatime treats were baked in a bakestone over an open fire. They are called Welsh cakes because they inspired by the Welsh bakestone. According to Wikipedia, a Welsh bakestone is a type of flat griddle, sometimes called a planc. It looks very similar to an iron skillet, but its flat.
Welsh cakes are also sometimes referred to as Griddle Cakes, Welsh Tea Cakes or Welsh Miner Cakes. Have we sparked your interest on why these delicious treats are called miner cakes? Did you know that Wales is well known for its agriculture and mining? Back in the day, these little Welsh cakes were made by the lady of the house for teatime and the kid’s lunches. Because they were so portable, the miners would stuff a few in their pockets to give them some energy to get through their grueling workday. That is why they are sometimes referred to as Welsh Miner Cakes.
Ingredients
Simple staples are all you will need for this recipe. NO LARD is used in this recipe. You probably have everything in your house to make these little delicious tea cakes right now. We have included both metric and imperial measurements in the recipe directions below for you.
- Flour- sometimes we substitute 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour with coconut flour. However, we have not tested this recipe fully gluten-free. It adds a delicious subtle coconut flavor to the little cakes.
2. Baking Powder – always make sure that it is not expired before use.
3. Butter - we used COLD salted grass-fed organic butter for this recipe - The real deal. The little bit of salt compliments the delicate sweetness in the Welsh cakes.
4. Sugar – granulated not powdered. Can use coconut sugar if desired. We have not tested this recipe with other sugar alternatives but should work well.
5. Cinnamon and nutmeg are delicious warming spices.
6. Dried Raisins, currents, blueberries, cranberries are all delicious in this recipe.
7. Eggs – beat before adding to the pastry dough
8. Almond milk – we used a non-dairy just because dairy is not our friend. You can use regular milk if no dairy issues.
How To Make Griddle Cakes From Scratch?
Making traditional welsh cake recipe dough is easier than you think. It is much like a short crust pastry dough. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg in a bowl. Add sugar and mix. Then, add the cold butter. Either use your fingers or a pastry device to cut in the butter until it looks like little grains of sand.
Add eggs, raisins and mix together. Next, add enough almond milk or dairy of choice just until it sticks together like a pastry dough and form into a ball. Do not overwork the dough as this can make the pastry dough tough.
Next, roll out, cut out and get ready cook the Welsh cakes on the griddle or in a frying pan. The dough may slightly crack when rolling out but that is okay.
You do not need a special pan, griddle or even an iron skillet to make these little teatime treats. All you need is a large frying pan and just a little bit of oil spray to prevent sticking. We set our stove top to 3-4 and it takes about 3-4 minutes on each side until they are golden brown and cooked through.
Next, our favorite part…Eating them!
Cooking Hacks
- Sift your flours and additions to keep the biscuit light and delicious.
- Use REAL COLD butter so you can cut it in. We use our fingers or a pastry cutter to perform this task. It will look like grains of sands when you are done.
- You will need to add a little milk or dairy free alternative to get to the consistency of a short crust pastry dough. If you don’t, your little cakes might be a little dry.
- Don’t overwork the dough as it will make the pastry tough.
- Just gather dough until it sticks together. It may still crack a little bit but that is okay. You just want enough milk or milk alternative just until it sticks together so you can roll it out.
- Make sure to flour your board, rolling pin and cake cutter well so that it does not stick.
- We used a little 6.5 cm or 2 and ¾ inch antique cookie cutter to make our little griddle cakes. You can also use a plastic cup to make your little griddle cakes.
- As these cakes have butter in them, they do not need much oil to prevent sticking in the pan. We used just a little spray oil.
- Our stovetop burner was set on gas 3-4 level and it takes between 3 to 4 minutes on each side to get golden brown and cook fully through. If your cakes are getting too brown quickly, turn down the heat. If they are not completely golden after 3-4 minutes, then turn up the heat slightly.
- Do not overcrowd the pan, griddle or skillet as this makes it difficult to flip the cakes.
- If you have a griddle or iron skillet, these works fantastic. We cooked our Welsh cakes in a large non-stick skillet, and it worked perfectly.
How to Serve Welsh Tea Cakes?
These delightful cakes are such a fun portable treat. Perfect for brunch, breakfast, St. David’s Day, afternoon tea, a Mother’s Day treat, bridal showers, baby showers or just any day you need something a little special. We like to eat these delicious cakes plain but also enjoy them with a little slather of our Apricot Freezer Jam Recipe, butter, honey or Strawberry Rhubarb Refrigerator Jam. Easy enough to just eat in your hands or decadent enough to eat with garnish berries and Homemade Coconut Whipped Cream.
These little teatime treats are best served hot off the griddle. However, these cakes can also be microwaved for about 20-30 seconds or heated up in the toaster just before serving.
St. David's Day History
Now most everyone has heard of St. Patrick’s Day. We know St. Patrick is from Ireland. ON St. Patrick’s Day we wear our green clothes, drink green beer and celebrate Irish traditions that are well known around the world. Less is known about St. David.
St. David was born sometime in the middle of the 6th century in the year 542, in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. This makes St. David the only one of the British Saints to be patron of his home country. St. David was also known as Dewi Sant. He was a Celtic monk, abbot and bishop who spread the word of Christianity across Wales.
A famous story about Saint David tells how he was preaching to a huge crowd and the ground is said to have risen up, so that he was standing on a hill and everyone had a better chance of hearing him. He was known as a powerful orator and many legends grew up about miraculous events around him.
St. David died on March 1st in 589 AD and was later canonized in 1120. His feast has been celebrated on the anniversary of his death ever since. An important part of the observations of St. David’s Day is to enjoy traditional welsh cakes and gather with friends.
Ways to Celebrate St. David’s Day
There are many St. David’s Day customs and traditions to be enjoyed by all. For our Welsh friends, rugby played an important part of their celebrations. Playing rugby in a small apartment in Japan or Hong Kong is out of the question, so instead, one of our friends shared with us the story behind the Welsh Heart (Love) Spoons and the tribute to their rugby teams.
So far as I can recall, Welsh heart spoons have the tradition of being gifted during weddings or other significant joyous events. Each carving has distinct meanings and sentiment to those it is passed on to and is cherished by the family or team it is given to. The Welsh Heart Spoons are carved from one piece of wood and display the carver's skill.
The carver uses nothing more than a knife, usually a small pocket-knife. The handle received his full attention and skills, eventually being carved with piercings, relief, fretwork, or all three woodcarving techniques. Wooden chains, swivels, balls within chains and rings displayed even greater skills, as the carvers figured out how to make these from one piece of wood.
Frequent Asked Questions
The easiest way to reheat a Welsh cake is to either heat them up in the toaster or just microwave a couple of them for about 20-30 seconds.
You can freeze both cooked and uncooked Welsh cakes.
If you have cooked your Welsh cakes on the griddle, allow them to cool completely and freeze in a freezer safe container for up to 2 months. Make sure to heat them up in the toaster or microwave before serving.
In addition, you can store prepared uncooked Welsh cakes in the freezer for up to 2 months in a sealed container with waxed paper or parchment paper between the layers to prevent sticking. When you are ready to cook, thaw a few Welsh cakes and cook on the griddle.
Store cooked traditional Welsh cakes in a sealed container for up to 1 week. We like to store ours in the refrigerator as we live in a humid climate. Then, these delicious cakes can be frozen up to 2 months.
More Delicious Teatime Recipes
Strawberry Rhubarb Refrigerator Jam (No Refined Sugar)
Icebox Lavender Lemon Angel Food Cake
Baked Matcha Lemon Glazed Donuts
Matcha White Chocolate Brownies
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Traditional Welsh Cakes Recipe
Equipment
- frying pan, griddle pan or iron skillet
Ingredients
- 4.5 cups flour
all purpose - 4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1.5 cups sugar granulated or sugar alternative of choice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 16 tablespoon butter
2 sticks (or 1 cup) salted - 4 eggs beaten
- 2 cups raisins
- 8 tablespoon almond milk or milk or dairy alternative of choice
- oil spray
- granulated sugar for garnishing - optional
- Garnishes (butter, assorted jams, honey, even whipped coconut cream and berries- whatever your little heart desires) - optional
Instructions
- Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg into a large bowl. Add butter and mix with fingers or a pastry blender tool until resembles fine breadcrumbs. Beat the eggs lightly and add to flour mixture. Add the raisins and mix well. Add just enough almond milk or dairy of choice to make a firm dough similar to shortcrust pastry. We added 8 tablespoons of almond milk to get to the desired consistency. However, depending on your climate of your kitchen and humidity this can vary.
- Pull the dough together to make a ball. Do not overwork the dough as this can make the pastry dough tough. Dust your board, the dough and your rolling pin with a little flour.
- Roll the dough to between ¼ inch (6.5 mm) to ½ inch (12.5 mm) on floured surface and cut with 2 and ¾ inch (6.5 cm) rounds. Lightly grease your pan or griddle with a little oil spray. Cook the cakes on a greased griddle over low heat until golden brown. We set our gas mark on 3 to 4 and cooked the cakes approximately 3-4 minutes each side until golden brown on each side and cooked through. Sprinkle with a little granulated sugar or sugar alternative if desired.
- Best if serve hot off the griddle. Welsh cakes can be reheated in the toaster or in the microwave for a few seconds. However, they can also be eaten at room temperature but we prefer them hot.
- Enjoy St. David's Day Welsh cakes on this special day or any day you want a lovely snack, yummy breakfast treat or tea time treat. Traditionally it is served with jams or honey. You can also really kick it up with some coconut whipping cream and berries for a real treat. They can be served hot off the griddle my favorite or at room temperature. Happy St. David's Day!
- These little cakes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days in a sealed container or can be frozen up to 3 months. Just heat and serve!
Notes
- Sift your flours and additions to keep the biscuit light and delicious.
- Use REAL COLD butter so you can cut it in. We use our fingers or a pastry cutter to perform this task. It will look like grains of sands when you are done.
- You will need to add a little milk or dairy free alternative to get to the consistency of a short crust pastry dough. If you don’t, your little cakes might be a little dry.
- Don’t overwork the dough as it will make the pastry tough.
- Just gather dough until it sticks together. It may still crack a little bit but that is okay. You just want enough milk or milk alternative just until it sticks together so you can roll it out.
- Make sure to flour your board, rolling pin and cake cutter well so that it does not stick.
- We used a little 6.5 cm or 2 and ¾ inch antique cookie cutter to make our little griddle cakes. You can also use a plastic cup to make your little griddle cakes.
- As these cakes have butter in them, they do not need much oil to prevent sticking in the pan. We used just a little spray oil.
- Our stovetop burner was set on gas 3-4 level and it takes between 3 to 4 minutes on each side to get golden brown and cook fully through. If your cakes are getting too brown quickly, turn down the heat. If they are not completely golden after 3-4 minutes, then turn up the heat slightly.
- Do not overcrowd the pan, griddle or skillet as this makes it difficult to flip the cakes.
- If you have a griddle or iron skillet, these works fantastic. We cooked our Welsh cakes in a large non-stick skillet, and it worked perfectly.
- The easiest way to reheat a Welsh cake is to either heat them up in the toaster or just microwave a couple of them for about 20-30 seconds.
- You can freeze both cooked and uncooked Welsh cakes. If you have cooked your Welsh cakes on the griddle, allow them to cool completely and freeze in a freezer safe container for up to 2 months. Make sure to heat them up in the toaster or microwave before serving.
- In addition, you can store prepared uncooked Welsh cakes in the freezer for up to 2 months in a sealed container with waxed paper or parchment paper between the layers to prevent sticking. When you are ready to cook, thaw a few Welsh cakes and cook on the griddle.
- Store cooked traditional Welsh cakes in a sealed container for up to 1 week. We like to store ours in the refrigerator as we live in a humid climate. Then, these delicious cakes can be frozen up to 2 months.
Vicky says
Find memories of a neighbour who was Welsh bringing round boxes of these to my house. They were addictive. Haven't eaten one for about 40 years. Will bake a batch this weekend. I know my youngest son not to mention hubby will devour them. Thanks for the recipe
HWC Magazine says
So glad we could bring back some fond foodie memories for you Vicky. Our boys love traditional Welsh cakes too. Thank goodness this recipe makes a pretty big batch so you can enjoy a few too. Stay well and take care.
Dana says
My aunt made these types of little cakes -- her oven was tiny in her old kitchen. I was always amazed she could 'bake' in a frying pan. Thanks for the fond memories
Aubry says
These remind me of cakes my mother made
HWC Magazine says
Hi there Aubrey! Childhood food memories are the best!
[email protected] is How I Cook says
These are new for me as is St. David’s Day. I’m loving your description of these and have no doubt I could have eaten more than you.
HWC Magazine says
So happy to introduce you to something new Abbie. I'm certainly happy that this recipe makes at least 40 as when you have boys... need I say more?
John / Kitchen Riffs says
Why have I never had a Welsh Cake? Beats me, but I need to remedy that, and soon. These look marvelous -- really wonderful recipe. Thanks.
HWC Magazine says
Hi there John! Most definitely you need to sort that out. Wish you lived closer so we could share a few with you. Welsh cakes are really easy to make so hope you give it a go soon.
Kenny says
These are very good
HWC Magazine says
Thank you. Maybe a little too good. I ate 12 in under 24 hours. LOL Stay well and take care
Ron says
Bobbi, you've brought back a fond memory for me. In my working life, I used to travel to Anglesey in North Wales twice a year and always looked forward to the Welsh tea cakes they served at afternoon tea at my hotel. I would always try and wrap up my business so as to be back at the hotel at five so as to get the cakes fresh off the griddle. I must admit I enjoyed a wee spoon of Welsh jam. Thanks for the memory...
HWC Magazine says
We are so happy to hear this Ron, thank you. Hot off the griddle Welsh cakes are the BEST. With a bit of hot tea and jam, you are in a happy place. Stay well and take care
mjskitchen says
I've never had Welsh Cakes before, but I do love fruity sweet breads and that's what these remind me of, except they are cooked on a grill. These would make a great little breakfast for us and of course an accompaniment to our afternoon tea. We certainly don't need 40 of them and my freezer is full, but the recipe does look like it's easy to cut in half. These would be a great little substitute for cookies.
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much MJ! Welsh cakes make great breakfast and afternoon treats. You can certainly easily half the recipe but it you make a full batch, you can freeze your cakes before you cook them in the freezer. Then, when you crave a little treat just unthaw and cook on the griddle with your afternoon tea. Stay well and take care
Liz says
Ooh, I've never heard of these, but they sure sound tasty! Such a fun, portable treat 🙂
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Liz. So happy to introduce you to something new. Perfect breakfast, brunch or teatime treat.