Welsh cakes are something my family obsess about. When I was little, my sister and I used to make them with my gran, taking it in turns to do the rolling out and sitting on a stool to cook them on the stove. At the start of each university term, I went with a huge box of welsh cakes which I shared with my friends, who then also got addicted to them. My husband is obsessed with them, as are his work colleagues. I have just started a new job and I’m planning to take this stash of welsh cakes into work on St Davids day to make a meeting more exciting.
I have never cooked welsh cakes on anything other than a cast iron bake stone. A bake stone is essential in my humble opinion – it took a while for us to find something to work on our induction hob but we now have a small cast iron pan from IKEA and a big one my gran gave me. I suppose at a push a normal frying pan could be used though. So without further ado, here is the ultimate welsh cake recipe.
Ingredients
- 8 oz self raising flour
- 3 oz margarine
- 3 oz caster sugar
- 3 oz currants
- 1/2 tea spoon mixed spice
- 1 tablespoon golden syrup
- 1 large egg or 2 small eggs (mix the egg and syrup in a jug or bowl)
- bakestone on a low heat
Recipe
- Mix and combine all ingredients by kneading them together.
- Flour a board and rolling pin, roll the mix out to about 1cm thickness and cut welsh cakes with a round cutter.
- Cook the welsh cakes until slightly browned and firm. See the picture below to give you an idea of what they should look like.
- Leave to cool, but you can eat them straight away with a cup of tea.
In the interest of fairness to my other (English) gran, I will also be posting a recipe for her Scotch shortbread, which is delicious and also a lifelong staple in our family.