Picau ar y maen

Dydd G?yl Dewi Hapus! March 1st is the patron saint of Wales’ day, St David, and I figured it was about time I shared my recipe for Welsh Cakes because honestly, they’re so easy to make and they’re SO good. Back when we lived in the UK, I was too lazy to make them myself, and when M&S does a snack pack of tiny cakes then why would you bother? Now, it’s a little more difficult than it really should be and I have to actually think about what is plain flour over here. (This June marks 6 years since we moved from the UK and I still find myself googling things like “what are spring onions” (scallions/green onions) and “what is self raising flour” (surprisingly, self raising flour, but not many places have it so the search turns into “where to buy self raising flour nearby”)

I used the recipe from Spruce Eats for mixed spice, since the local British shop didn’t have any, and had to go to two different shops because apparently currants are special? Sometimes I really miss Sainos.

• 225g plain flour (all purpose flour works fine!)
• 85g caster sugar (caster sugar is essentially just granulated sugar but a bit finer, not quite as fine as powdered sugar – I weigh it out and then pop it in the blender for a few blasts)
• ½ tsp mixed spice
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 100g butter, cut into small pieces
• 50g currants (or raisins will do, since there’s only one supermarket, Safeway, that I’ve found that sells currants!)
• 1 egg, beaten
• splash milk if needed

These come together so easily – mix the dry ingredients together, rub in the butter, stir in the fruit, add the egg and then knead to a soft dough. If it’s still a bit crumbly, add a bit of milk. Roll it out to about half an inch thickness, cut rounds out and then fry them in butter on a griddle (yes of course this meant a quick dash to Williams Sonoma when I realised I didn’t have a proper non stick griddle pan). I like them fresh off the pan with a bit of sugar sprinkled on top, but they’re also good with butter (spread thickly enough to leave teeth marks when you bite it, same as Soreen)

Any accusations that I only bothered to make my own Welsh cakes because Rob and Ryan did it first on Welcome to Wrexham are completely true.