Welsh Cakes

Over the last couple of weeks I have heard a couple of people talking about Welsh Cakes, Until then I had never heard of these little regional treats. Well with the wonders of google I found a recipe and have just made my first batch of welsh cakes.
I did a little research into the history of Welsh Cakes.

A Brief History of Welsh Cakes

“A griddle-bread, circular with deckle edges about 50-70mm diameter, 10-15mm deep. Flavour and texture: Close soft, texture, rich flavour.

Pice ar y maen (Welsh for ‘cakes on the stone’, where they are also known as cacennau cri) have become so well known outside their native area that they are simply termed Welsh cakes. They are a Welsh variant on the theme of flat griddle-breads and scones found throughout western and northern Britain.  The recipe now used, leavened with baking powder, cannot date much before the mid-nineteenth century when this ingredient was first introduced. They were known in Glamorgan at the end of that century and they were baked either on a griddle or in a Dutch oven, a three-sided tin over that was placed directly before the flames of the kitchen fire (Tibbott, 1976). They are still very popular and widely made.” Quoted from the Taste of Britain by Laura Mason and Catherine Brown

Ingredients

• 225g/8oz Self-raising Flour, sieved
  1/4 tsp Mixed Spice
• 110g/4oz  Salted butter
• 1 Egg
• 50g Sultanas
• Splash of Milk
• 85g/3oz Caster sugar
• extra butter, for greasing

Preparation method

1. Rub the fat into the sieved flour to make breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, dried fruit and then the egg. Mix to combine, then form a ball of dough, using a splash of milk if needed.
2. Roll out the pastry until it is a 5mm/¼in thick and cut into rounds with a 7.5-10cm/3-4in fluted 
   cutter.
3. You now need a bakestone or a heavy iron griddle. Rub it with butter and wipe the excess away. Put it on to a direct heat and wait until it heats up, place the Welsh cakes on the griddle, turning once. They need about 2-3 minutes each side. Each side needs to be caramel brown before turning although some people I know like them almost burnt.
4. Remove from the pan and dust with caster sugar while still warm. Some people leave out the dried fruit, and split them when cool and sandwich them together with jam.
   
   
   

   
   

   This is the recipe that I used and it was very easy to make up, but I don't have a griddle so I made my Welsh Cakes in my Paella pan, and I found there is a very fine timing between Caramel brown and burnt when using the Paella pan and frying in butter, but they tasted fabulous served warm with Homemade Strawberry jam.