Welsh Cakes

Welsh Cakes

These little sugar dusted cakes are a traditional Welsh snack that I discovered while visiting Wales last summer.  I brought the recipe home with me as a souvenier on a piece of Welsh slate and have been wanting to make them ever since. I first tried them in a delightful little cafe in the town of Tintern (the same place we had the delicious Welsh scones!) and they were the perfect afternoon snack with a cup of tea!

 

Welsh Cake recipe on Welsh Slate

 

The ingredients are similar to scone ingredients, but the dough is possibly a little bit sweeter (although that could have been all the powdered sugar I sprinkled on top!) The dough is easy to work with and it only took about 15 mintues to throw these together. They cook quickly on the stove and are just perfect served hot off the griddle. The insides of these flat little cakes are light and fluffy with a texture similar to a biscuit or scone. The original recipe calls for a sprinkling of raw crunchy sugar on top, which would add a wonderful crunch!

These would be perfect served as an accompaniment to breakfast or brunch, or as a snack with tea or coffee.  I froze some of the rounds of dough (there are only two of us after all), and can’t wait to pull them out of the freezer to cook for a quick treat!

Welsh Cakes

Welsh Cakes

Ingredients:

8 oz flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch allspice
1 pinch salt
2 oz unsalted butter
2 oz lard (or shortening)
3.5 oz sugar
1 egg
milk
powdered sugar

Directions:

Mix the flour, baking powder, allspice and salt in a large bowl. Rub in the butter and lard. Add the sugar. Stir in the beaten egg with enough milk to make a stiff dough. (Start with a small amount of milk and add more as needed).

Roll the dough on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut into 2 inch discs. Cook on a lightly greased griddle or heavy frying pan for about 3 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

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16 comments

  1. Never had these, but they do look tasty!

  2. They look great and your photos are so good!

  3. I LOVE Welsh cakes!!! I think I need to try your recipe (since it's authentically from Wales, lol) this weekend 🙂

  4. These look great! I love that you have the recipe on that piece of slate….it's so pretty!

  5. I'm Welsh by heritage although I have no involvement in that heritage. This was interesting to read. Thanks.

  6. I make Welsh cakes a lot (got addicted to them when I lived in Wales). They are tastier with raisins in though.

  7. These cookies look delicious! I've never had these before and have never been to Whales, but your photos look beautiful!

  8. I love these! I'm a bagpiper and when I competed we used to buy them every time we were at a highland games. It will be fun to make them ourselves 🙂

  9. I have never seen these before, but they look fantastic! I want to travel more and discover recipes like these. Some day 🙂 Until then I will have to give this recipe a try!

  10. Welsh cakes!! I was actually going to make these soon for my Welsh friend, and yours look amazing. I love the photos 🙂 Glad you had a good time in Wales too.

  11. Gorgeous pictures! Like Hobbiton, only for big people… 🙂 I might try these with sausage and eggs some morning – you know, a morning when there's actually time for a sit-down breakfast…

  12. Hi…Have an award waiting for you in my blog….Do claim it… 🙂

  13. Oh, my mouth is watering! I'm actually leaving for Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland next week — hope I'll get to track these down! And if not, I'll just have to whip up a batch of my own. 🙂

  14. I love these little cakes! Thanks for the recipe. I've missed these! Now I can bring a little bit of Wales back into my kitchen.

  15. would love to see recipe for chewy lemon shortbread cookies

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