This week has suddenly become a lot colder, and all at once am I thankful that I was only borrowing my friend’s dog. She’s now gone home so I get to stay in my nice warm bed in the mornings, instead of grumpily trudging out the door with an excited pup. The cold weather does mean that baking is back on the cards if only to keep the flat warm before I commit to putting the heating on! After exploring them a little bit last week when making Eccles cakes, I really wanted to try my hand at more regional UK bakes. Today’s new thing is one I’ve had my eyes on for a while – Welsh cakes.
Welsh cakes, sometimes called griddle cakes or griddle scones, have been a traditional Welsh bake since the late 19th Century when baking powder was introduced. The simple everyday ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, and the small size were perfect for sustaining miners and farmers during the long working day. The cakes look like flat scones, but are crispy on the outside and delightfully soft in the middle. They are served straight from the griddle, are sometimes dusted with sugar and sound absolutely divine.
I turned to my trusty Bread Ahead cookbook and used to their recipe for 12 Welsh cakes. The only ‘problem’ was, I ended up with 22. Something went wrong somewhere down the line! The extra cakes turned into a blessing, as I found the flipping a little tricky at first. I wasn’t letting it set enough on one side, and they were very delicate so they crumpled up and broke. It’s that first pancake theory I guess, but instead of throwing these bits away I ate them whilst perfecting my flipping technique. They were soo good!
As soon as I nailed the cooking I tried one straight from the pan – where had these beauties been all my life? They were incredible! I really had to restrain myself from eating them all. I really cannot recommend this very simple recipe enough, they are very quick and deeply delicious. You won’t be disappointed!
New Day, New Thing 