Welsh Cakes

Listening to Earth Eats awhile back, Chef Daniel Orr gave a recipe for Welsh Cakes. I had never heard of them before, but they sounded good. So I tried them! Here's the recipe. (Note: The second item should be 3 ounces granulated sugar, not flour. I listened to the podcast again just to make sure!)

These sounded so good, I dove right in trying three versions: all-purpose flour, hard white whole-wheat flour, and hard red whole-wheat flour.

Other than the three different flour types and using raisins and cinnamon, I followed the recipe as given.

Frying them up!

Outwardly, all three versions look the same:

Welsh Cake versions, clockwise from the left: White Whole-Wheat, All-Purpose, and Red Whole-Wheat

From this very limited experience, I found the Welsh Cakes to be like a combination of pancakes and biscuits or scones. All three versions tasted good, but I preferred the more-flavorful whole-wheat versions.

The dough is quite delicate, so you need to be careful while frying them. I used my doughnut cutter, minus the center circle. That was too big. Next time I will use something that is about 2 inches in diameter. Upon further reading, that seems to be a more typical size. I think they will be easier to handle.

I put too much sugar on them. Next time I will just sprinkle a little on top, more for looks. They are already pretty sweet.

Like pancakes, biscuits, and scones, these taste fantastic fresh, but not as good later. So make them! Use whole-wheat flour! They are really good! And really easy! But just make what you will eat right away.