Saturday 1 March is St David’s Day. What better excuse do you need to rustle up a batch of Pice ar y Maen, the classic Welsh teatime treat that nobody can refuse? But these delicious little hob-cooked cookies aren’t just a sweet teatime treat; they’re absolutely delicious served with cheese (Caerphilly, of course) and rich, fruity pickle.
Welsh Cakes will happily stay fresh in a tin for up to 1 week – but you probably won’t need to know that.
Ingredients (makes 16 Welsh Cakes)
225g plain flour
85g caster sugar
1 level tsp mixed spice
½ tsp baking powder
100g very cold butter, cubed
50g currants
1 beaten egg
Splash of milk
Method
Tip the flour, sugar, mixed spice, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl and rub the cold, cubed butter in with your fingertips until you’ve created a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs. Add the currants, stir to combine then work the beaten egg into the mixture until you have soft dough with a similar consistency to shortcrust pastry, adding a splash of milk if the dough seems a little bit too dry.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to around the thickness of your little finger and stamp out around 16 rounds, re-rolling the trimmings as you go.
Grease a heavy frying or flat griddle pan with butter and place over a medium heat. Cook the Welsh Cakes in batches for around 3 minutes each side until golden brown. Serve warm sprinkled with caster sugar, accompanied with butter and jam or with cheese.
