Welsh cakes

By Mary Hamilton

Makes: 10 – 16

Time: 31 minutes

Slight variation on the original recipe.

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour
¼ tsp salt
112g butter, diced plus extra for greasing
85g caster sugar plus extra for dusting
¼ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
30g sultanas or other dried fruit
1 egg, beaten

Method

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the diced butter and rub in until it looks like breadcrumbs
Time: 5 minutes.
Add the sugar, spices, sultanas and egg and mix well. Bring together as a dough. Add a very little milk if you think it needs it but be sparing. Put a large, flat pan on to heat at just above minimum.
Time: 2 minutes.
Roll out the dough on a floured board to about 3mm thickness and cut into rounds with a plain pastry cutter (your choice of size but about 70mm is decent). Re-roll and repeat until you have used all the dough.
Time: 5 minutes.
Rub the pan with a little butter and cook the cakes in batches for about 3 mins per side turning over once. Don't crowd the pan or it will be tricky to turn them. 5 at a time is reasonable. Ensure they are cooked through.
Time: 18 minutes.
When the cakes are done removed them to a cooling rack and dust with a little extra caster sugar while still warm. Eat warm or at room temperature.
Time: 1 minute.

You can use chocolate chips instead of the fruit and replace the allspice with ginger for a chocolatey alternative.

These will keep in an airtight container for up to a week but are better fresher. Omit the sprinkled sugar if you intend to re-heat them in a toaster.

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