Welsh Cakes Recipe - easy to follow recipe | The Worktop (2024)

FAQs

Why do my Welsh cakes go hard? ›

After you have flipped them, you want to look for that gooey line in the middle of each Welsh cake. If you don't have this and cook them for too long on either side, they're going to be rock hard the next day.

Pica Bach or Pice Bach

These were general terms used for Welsh cakes, and refer to the food as being 'small cakes'. They can also be called 'pican' or 'picen' and were called these in Carmarthenshire, Aberystwyth and the old West Glamorgan (Swansea and Neath Port Talbot today).

These are somewhat similar in appearance to Eccles Cakes but Welsh Cakes are a bit flatter than an Eccles Cake and unlike an Eccles Cake, Welsh Cakes are not filled. In order to make Welsh Cakes, these must be made on a griddle or a bake stone. Once you get the hang of cooking these, it's literally a piece of cake!

According to Doug Windsor, the former national chef of Wales, the two cakes are made in a different way. He explained: "A Welsh cake is made from a dough, while a drop scone is made from a batter and is more of a pancake," he said.

Getting the temperature of your griddle or bakestone correct is the key to this Welsh cake recipe. If it's too hot the cakes will burn before they are cooked through. Too low and the texture will be dry.

You can try any of the following: adding a 1 oz. package of pudding (any flavor that complements the cake's flavor profile), adding 1-2 egg yolks (along with the eggs called for on the box), or substituting milk for the water called for on the box. I hope this is helpful to you. Happy baking!

When Oliver Cromwell gained power in 1650 A.D., both the wakes and the eating of Eccles Cakes were banned due to the Puritan belief that they both had pagan connections. On the other hand, maybe the powers that be in London, did not want their Northern subjects to have too much of a good thing!

They were usually cooked on a bakestone and the Welsh names given to these cakes were usually based on the different regional Welsh name for the bakestone. These included pice bach, tishan lechwan or tishan ar y mân (bakestone cakes), but in English they became known generally as Welsh Cakes.

Everyone likes to eat their welsh cakes differently and you should know that if you are talking to us there is no wrong or right way. Enjoy them with sugar, butter, plain, jam, cream, or even chocolate spread and marshmallow – the point of a welsh cake is that is makes you feel warm and cosy for a little minute.

“Fairy cakes are smaller units, baked in smaller cases and trays,” she told British Baker. ”Traditionally the tops were cut off and set aside, a small amount of jam placed in the centre and a small amount of cream on top.

Should Welsh Cakes be toasted? ›

Cakes may be eaten straight from the package however most people prefer them warmed. Warming takes 8-10 seconds for one cake in a 1500W microwave, 10-12 seconds for a whole pack. If heating in an oven, 2-3 mins @ 275 will usually do. Some folks tell us they toast the cakes and we like that too.

The most common form of Jaffa cakes are circular, 21⁄8 inches (54 mm) in diameter and have three layers: a Genoise sponge base, a layer of orange flavoured jam and a coating of chocolate. Each cake is 46 calories.

This can be avoided by setting the right temperature. Cake becomes hard when the temperature set is incorrect or less. Try baking a cake between 180 degrees to 220 degrees, depending on the type of cake and if it still happens, then you should reduce the quantity of the batter.

If you use a cup rather than a scale there's a good chance you're using too much flour: up to 20% too much, if you use the measuring cup as a scoop then tamp the flour down. Any baked good — especially cake —with too much flour will be dry, hard, crumbly … take your unhappy pick.

If your cake is hard, the problem probably lies in the beating. The butter must be beaten well in the early stages to give the mixture enough air for a light and fluffy texture. To achieve this the butter must be lukewarm and therefore not too hard.