Traditional Welsh Cakes
User Reviews
5
Traditional Welsh Cakes
Description
Welsh Cakes feature a blend of flour, caster sugar, baking powder, mace, cinnamon, and salt combined with chilled lard and butter to form a crumbly dough. The inclusion of spices like mace and cinnamon adds a distinctive warmth. Dried currants provide small bursts of sweetness throughout. The dough is made soft with the addition of beaten egg and a little milk, then chilled to ease handling.
Once rolled and cut into rounds, the cakes are cooked on a medium heat, ideally in a cast iron pan, until lightly browned on both sides. The cooked cakes have a soft, slightly crumbly texture inside with a golden exterior. The pan's butter helps caramelize the sugar sprinkled on top, creating a subtle crunch and enhancing flavor.
These cakes are traditionally served warm or at room temperature, enjoyed plain or with butter. Their portability and balanced sweetness make them suitable for casual snacking or alongside tea. The recipe allows making dough ahead and refrigerating it until ready to cook, supporting convenience and flexibility.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup caster sugar to make your own, pulse granulated sugar in a blender until ultra fine. Do NOT use powdered sugar, do not substitute
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon mace a highly fragrant, flavorful spice used in a lot of traditional baking. STRONGLY recommended but can substitute nutmeg if necessary, ground
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 ounces lard , chilled (about 4 tablespoons) NOTE: Lard is critical for the wonderful texture of Welsh Cakes
- lard it's WAY cheaper and better, rendered (homemade
- 2 ounces butter , chilled and cubed
- 1 egg lightly beaten, large
- 1/2 cup currants dried
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- granulated sugar for finished cakes
Instructions
- In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, mace and cinnamon. Mix in the lard and butter using your fingers or a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the currants and stir to combine. Add the beaten egg and work it into the mixture adding a little milk as needed until you have a soft dough. It should not be wet or sticky. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (Dough can be made well in advance and chilled until ready to use.)
- Roll the dough out onto a floured or non-stick surface about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds using a biscuit cutter. Gather up the scraps, knead together and roll out again to cut the remaining rounds.
- Heat and lightly butter a cast iron pan over medium heat (I lightly butter it to later help the sugar adhere to the cakes when they're sprinkled). Add the cakes and cook on each side until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes (lower the heat if needed to prevent the outside from burning before the interior is done).
- Let them cool for about a minute. While the Welsh cakes are still warm, place them in a small bowl of sugar to coat all sides. Best eaten while a little warm. Reheat Welsh Cakes in a pan, toaster, or warmed oven (or if in a hurry, in the microwave for a few seconds).
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 15Welsh cakes
Amount Per Serving
Calories 125 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1Welsh cake | |
| Calories | 125kcal | 6% |
| Carbohydrates | 21g | 7% |
| Protein | 2g | 4% |
| Fat | 3g | 5% |
| Saturated Fat | 2g | 10% |
| Sodium | 72mg | 3% |
| Potassium | 102mg | 2% |
| Sugar | 7g | 14% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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