I have just returned home from a family holiday in Wales, which has inspired me to bake a delicious tea-time treat that I tried for the first time while in Wales; Welsh Cakes (or Pice ar y maen). Full of dried fruit, mixed spice, and my own addition of lemon, these are an extremely tasty snack that I am really excited about and will be making again and again!
Welsh cakes are traditional sweet cakes that have been popular since the nineteenth century. Their popularity owes much to the fact that they make use of basic and ordinary store cupboard ingredients such as flour, sugar and butter. They could traditionally be found in children’s lunch boxes as well as the pockets of Welsh miners! Welsh cakes are quite like scones (especially in their ingredients), but are flat and cooked on a griddle, more like a pancake. Originally cooked on a bake-stone, cast iron griddles (or “maem” in Welsh) were later used and became the predominate method to cook them.
I tried Welsh cakes twice on my holiday, and they were quite different in size. The first (made by the extremely friendly lady who owned the cottage we were staying in) were only about 5cm wide whereas the others (from a tea shop) were quite a lot bigger (about 10cm wide). I assume that therefore there is no one correct size for Welsh cakes; they can be any size you want them to be!
They are reasonably quick and easy to make, and if you, like me, don’t have a griddle, you can just as easily cook them in a frying pan. My addition of lemon is not traditional (I apologise to any traditionalists out there!) but it’s a very subtle touch that adds such a fresh flavour.
Lemon Welsh Cakes
Ingredients
- 225g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 115g butter/margarine
- 80g sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 85g currants
- 1 egg
- splash of milk
- oil for the griddle/frying pan
Method
- Finely grate the lemon
- In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, mixed spice, baking powder and lemon zest
- Rub in the butter or margarine with your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
- Stir in the currants
- Lightly beat the egg before adding to the mixture. Form a dough, adding some milk if it is too dry
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface to no more than 1cm thick. Cut out with a 6cm wide cutter
- Lightly heat some oil on the griddle and cook the cakes on a low heat for 2-3 minutes on each side
- Cool on a wire rack. They can be kept in an airtight container for up to 5 days, but are best eaten fresh!
These Welsh cakes can be eaten warm or cold, and served with butter, or a sprinkle of icing sugar. I, however, prefer eating them just as they are.
Thanks for reading!
I’m Welsh. They look good, I’ll give the lemon a try next time I make them.
Butter is good on them when warm.
I’ve seen them covered in sugar. I wish people wouldn’t do that, it kills the flavour.
chware teg, you did a great job there.
Glyn….. Rhondda valleys.
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The cakes look fantastic.
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Thanks! 🙂
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Good one…thanks for sharing!
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Thanks, glad you like it! 🙂
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Lovely one – thanks for sharing.
Thank you for following my blog. Hope you find it interesting and like the recipes our members tried and tested.
Would you be interested to be a Guest poster with us, and share some of your awesome recipes on our blog?
Have a look at: https://cookandenjoyrecipes.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/fellow-bloggers-sharing-is-caring-recipe-exchange/ and leave me a note in the comments of this post, with a link to your recipe, if you’re interested. That will be just fantastic. Hope to hear from you soon 😊
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Thanks! 🙂
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Let me know if you’re interested to participate as a Guest and share a recipe on my blog. Looking forward working with you
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Looks ymmy!
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Thank you 🙂
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You are welcome
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I love Welsh cakes. And now I can make them thanks so much.
Check out my blog when you get the chance to 😃
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You’re very welcome, thanks for visiting! Let me know how you get on if you do make them! Will check you blog out! 🙂
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These look divine! I am not much of a baker but having just gotten a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, I feel certain this will change. Your post is inspiring me now!
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Thank you! 🙂 You should definitely give them a go, they aren’t that hard at all! I’d love to know how you get on if you do try them 🙂
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Oh my! You’ll have to give me your address so I can pop round for tea, Katie. These look just my kind of heaven. Warm, with just a little butter, because I’m naughty. 🙂
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Haha sounds ideal Jo! They go perfectly with butter, not naughty at all! 😛
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These look absolutely delicious! My family is Welsh and I’d love to try out a traditional treat from our homeland. I will have to give this recipe a try!
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Thanks! Cool! Have fun making them if you do, and let me know how you get on 🙂
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Uhhhh so nice. But really your blog looks very good. The design is important and you nail it 😀 We have the same theme 🙂 Kisses
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Thanks! Haha yes we do! Yours look great too 🙂 x
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They look delicious! I love your cutting board, by the way 😊
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Thanks! Haha, it’s pretty cute isn’t it? 🙂
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I’ve always loved Welsh cakes but have never made them. Yours look very delicious indeed. Theres nothing like being inspired by travel is there?
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I totally agree, so inspiring! 🙂
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These look perfect! 🙂
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Thanks! 🙂
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Oh this looks lovely! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
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You’re very welcome! Thanks for visiting! 🙂
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Something to try next 😋
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I’d love to know if you do try them! 🙂
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Challenge accepted it 😁 on Wednesdays I usually post a recipie so I’ll try to do it for next week and I’ll of course give the credit to you 🙂 is that ok ?
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Yes, you’re very welcome to do that! Looking forward to it 🙂
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I’m looking forward to trying these! 😆
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Let me know how you get on if you do! 🙂
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