Over the holidays we got together with our friends from the (unfortunately, now-defunct) St. David's Welsh-American Society. This is a group of locals who are either Welsh-born, like hubby, or of Welsh ancestry. When the Society was active, we met monthly and enjoyed Welsh foods while listening to a speaker, usually on a topic of Welsh culture or history. My father-in-law was always a favorite speaker on those occasions when they were in town from across the pond.
When the group got together in late November to kick off the holiday season, hubby used his mum's recipe for a favorite dessert, Welsh cakes. Cooked on a griddle, they are flat little treats, about two inches in diameter--the size of a regular cookie, but not as sweet. Lots of butter, some sugar, the somewhat crumbly texture of a scone. Delicious!
Rub butter into flour. Add other dry ingredients. Add beaten egg and a little milk if necessary. Rest mixture in refrigerator for a little while [about one hour]. Roll out and cut into rounds 3/8 inch thick. Cook on griddle on one side. Turn over and repeat.
*Caster sugar is sold as "super fine" sugar in U.S. supermarkets.
**Golden raisins work well.
When the group got together in late November to kick off the holiday season, hubby used his mum's recipe for a favorite dessert, Welsh cakes. Cooked on a griddle, they are flat little treats, about two inches in diameter--the size of a regular cookie, but not as sweet. Lots of butter, some sugar, the somewhat crumbly texture of a scone. Delicious!
Welsh Cakes - makes 16-18, use medium cutter
8 ozs. S.R. [self-rising] Flour
4 ozs. butter
1 ozs. ground almonds
2 - 3 ozs. Caster Sugar*
3 ozs. Dried Fruit**
1 egg
Pinch Salt
A little milk if needed.
Rub butter into flour. Add other dry ingredients. Add beaten egg and a little milk if necessary. Rest mixture in refrigerator for a little while [about one hour]. Roll out and cut into rounds 3/8 inch thick. Cook on griddle on one side. Turn over and repeat.
*Caster sugar is sold as "super fine" sugar in U.S. supermarkets.
**Golden raisins work well.
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| Welsh cakes cooling on the rack, soon to be devoured. |
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| Eating Welsh Cakes Makes You Happy! |
I grew up eating Welsh Cakes around the Christmas holiday here in the States - we called them Welsh Cookies.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to my own recipe with ingredients and measurements for the Stateside crowd:
http://andihelped.blogspot.com/2007/11/welsh-cookies.html
I am intrigued by this recipe and would like to try it; do apricots and dates sound OK for the "dried fruit" part?
ReplyDeleteJenny, I love you. LOL My great-grandmother, Ida (McMullen) Bullington, used to make these. My granny, Cortez (Bullington) Flowers, used to make them. Neither of them wrote it down. My mother and I have been buying them from the Welsh cookie guy at the Irish Festival each year since my granny passed (before that actually since she couldn't cook for a few years prior.) We haven't been able to find a recipe that looked the same or cooked up the same. THIS looks the same. I'm SO excited. You have no idea. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Thanks everyone for your comments!
ReplyDeleteThomas, what a great blog! I, too, am from the "And I Helped" commercial generation. I like that your recipe is much more detailed; my mother-in-law jotted this down probably the day before she left to come visit us, when she knew we would ask her to bake some Welsh cakes. I think that was the year she brought us a cutter, too!
Greta, apricots and dates would probably work if you like those flavors together. But they would have to be finely diced. Golden raisins are easy to find in the supermarket, they even come in the little single-serve boxes.
Stephanie, glad to help. Also see Thomas's link above for another recipe.
As an FYI, we cook them on a stovetop griddle sprayed with Pam. Get the griddle very hot before you begin to cook them. Like pancakes, the first batch on the griddle may not be your best. But once you get started, heaven!
Thanks for reading!