The ‘cake’ is in principal like a moister shortbread, but it is fried in a pan, traditionally with lard, rather than baked in the oven. I fried them in Tiana Organic Coconut Oil which I think gives a delicious extra flavour to the end product. The idea of frying the dough, rather than baking, is new to me and gives the ‘cakes’ a slighty crisy, buttery flavour.This is my version, rather than a truly traditional recipe…I couldn’t help but tweak it a bit.
225g plain flour
85g golden caster sugar (or coconut sugar)
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice (I don’t have a blend of this so I used mostly cinnamon and a small pinch of a 4 spice blend which is quite clovey)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
100g unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
50g raisins (or you could use goji berries, blueberries or cranberries)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg
A splash of milk
In a food processor, tip in the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, a pinch of salt and the cubed butter. Blitz together until you have a soft crumb formed. Now add the egg, vanilla essence and blitz. If you think the dough is too dry, add a splash of milk. The dough should have the consistency as shortcrust pastry.
Scrap out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll the dough to the thickness of your little finger. Cut our rounds using a 6cm cutter, re-rolling any trimmings.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and grease either using butter and a little oil or as I did with coconut oil. Now cook the Welsh cakes in batches for about 3 minutes each side – you want to make sure the dough cooks through each biscuit – until they are brown and crisp. When they are cooked, lay them on a rack and sprinkle with caster sugar.
They are delicious warm or when cold with a dollop of jam on them.
