Welsh cake
| Welsh cake | |
|---|---|
 Home-made Welsh cakes | |
| Alternative name(s): | |
| Bakestones | |
| Place of origin: | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Region or state: | |
| Wales | |
| Serving temperature: | |
| Hot or cold | |
| Main ingredient(s): | |
| Flour, sultanas, raisins, and/or currants | |
| Variations: | |
| Llech Cymraeg, jam split | |
| Recipes at Wikibooks: | |
 Welsh cake | |
| Media at Wikimedia Commons: | |
 Welsh cake |
Welsh cakes (Welsh: picau ar y maen, pice bach, cacen gri or teisen radell), also Welshcakes or pics,[citation needed] are traditional in Wales. Similar small cakes are made in other regions of the UK.
The cakes are also known as bakestones within Wales because they are traditionally cooked on a bakestone (Welsh: maen), a cast iron griddle about 1.5 cm or more thick which is placed on the fire or cooker; on rare occasions, people may refer to them as griddle scones.[1]
Welsh cakes are made from flour, sultanas, raisins, and/or currants, and may also include such spices as cinnamon and nutmeg.[2] They are roughly circular, a couple of inches (4–6 cm) in diameter and about half an inch (1–1.5 cm) thick.
Welsh cakes are served hot or cold dusted with caster sugar. Unlike scones, they are not usually eaten with an accompaniment, though they are sometimes sold ready split and spread with jam, and they are sometimes buttered.
Variations
- Llech Cymraeg: cooked with plain flour (particularly wholemeal flour) - rather than the standard self-raising flour, and baking powder, resulting in a much flatter and crisper cake. Typically, this variant is made as a slab on a bakestone, or nowadays on a baking tray, hence the name Llech Cymraeg (literally, "Welsh slab").
- Jam Split: popular in South Wales. As the name suggests, this is a Welsh cake split horizontally, with jam (and sometimes butter) added, rather like a sandwich.
- Apple Dragon: Adding grated apple to the mix helps to keep the cakes moist for longer.
- The Newport Lovely: regional variant hand-crafted by the men of Newport for their women as either a wedding-gift, or engagement present.
- Mynydd Cymreig (literally, Welsh Mountain): from North Wales, doubling the amount of baking powder results in their increased rising. They are also finely coated in icing sugar, symbolising the year-round snow of some of the higher peaks in Snowdonia.
See also
- Heavy cake from Cornwall
- Singing hinny from northern England
External links
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Welsh cakes. |
References
- ↑ "Fast facts about Welsh cakes - and a recipe". OnlineWales Internet Ltd. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ↑ "Traditional Welsh cake recipe". Visit Wales, Welsh Government. Retrieved 12 September 2013.