Traditional Welsh Cakes Recipe
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.
Servings: 42
Calories: 138kcal
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
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.
- 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.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 138kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 50mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 156IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg