Saturday, 14 December 2013

Some Facts About Welsh Cakes

By Eugenia Dickerson


Welsh cakes are traditional desserts in Wales, but are prepared in other parts of the UK as well. These cakes are often called bake stones or Pics. Originally, they were called pice bach or reisen radells. In any case, they are really a perfect choice for a tasty little breakfast you will certainly enjoy.

They taste great served cold or served hot. Usually simply dusted with a little bit of iced sugar, they taste very nice spread with butter or jam, or both. Basic ingredients are self raising flour, sugar, eggs, butter, raisins, currants and spices, mostly nutmeg and cinnamon. The point is to bake them on a frying pan, not in the oven.

If you prefer moister cakes, add some grated apples in your mixture. This particular version is sometimes called Apple Dragon. This way the cake will be moist longer. If you prefer having your cakes with generous amounts of your favorite jam, this version is especially popular in South Wales, and called Jam Split.

So, when you want to prepare traditional Welsh cakes, you will need 400 grams of flour, self raising or with baking powder added, 120 grams of lard and 120 grams of butter, 150 grams of sugar and 100 grams of currants. You will also need a little bit of salt and one egg, some milk and nutmeg and cinnamon. You can also add your favorite spices.

The preparation is very similar to making a pie. You should mix flour and spices with lard and butter, until your mixture forms small crumbs. Add sugar and other ingredients, and you can add some milk too, until you get a mixture a little bit moister than the one used for a pie.

Roll out the mixture on a floured board, up to one inch thick, and cut it into rounds. Place your cakes on a slightly greased, hot iron frying pan, and bake them until golden brown. Turn them over and bake the other side. When baked, dust with iced sugar and serve with jam and butter.

Some use self raising flour instead. Some recipes contain more spices, and in some you will find currants and raisins, and even some fresh fruits. If you add more baking powder, the cakes will raise and become fluffier. Although you can use any pan, for this special purpose the best one is heavy cast iron one. You could also use more eggs, and you won't have to add milk in the mixture.

Piceary moen cakes contain regular flour instead of self-raising one, and you should add a baking powder in it. Some versions contain more or less sugar, some use beaten eggs or more different spices, and some contain fresh berries or dried fruits. All favorite spice is certainly nutmeg, although you can always add cinnamon instead.

Welsh cakes are so easy to make and so tasty everyone can make some for breakfast, for example. They taste great with jam and butter, but you should try eating them with butter Scotch cream, you won't be disappointed. Perfect little afternoon snacks, these simple desserts are really interesting.




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