Wonderful Welsh cakes | Fruit recipes | Jamie Oliver recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are Welsh cakes called in England? ›

These included pice bach, tishan lechwan or tishan ar y mân (bakestone cakes), but in English they became known generally as Welsh Cakes.

How to serve your Welsh cakes. I suggest eating these warm, either straightaway or reheated in the toaster. Traditionally I believe these are eaten just as they are, or of course you can add a topping such as butter or jam. I'm thinking now that peanut butter might work on these too, or even chocolate spread!

The cakes are a cross between a cookie, a scone, and a pancake but they are truly unlike any of these things when it comes to taste and texture. They are the size of chubby cookie, made from ingredients similar to a scone, but they are cooked like a pancake on a griddle, they are not baked.

Do not be deceived by their rustic appearance. These pan cooked cakes are melt in the mouth delicious and incredibly more-ish. Serve them warm (you can toast them!) with a healthy spread of butter!

Welsh cakes (Welsh: picau ar y maen, pice bach, cacennau cri or teisennau gradell), also bakestones or pics, are a traditional sweet bread in Wales.

Welsh cakes are made with plain flour, eggs and shortening and don't rise much. Scones are made with self-raising flour, no eggs, no shortening and rise a lot if done right. Welsh cakes tend to be flatter, more like thick pancakes. Scones are more like cakes.

Welsh cakes can be eaten hot or cold, though the vast majority of Welsh people will tell you how to eat Welsh cakes is eating them while they're still warm. You can heat them up easily in a pan, toaster oven, standard oven, or even your microwave.

Bara brith

Take afternoon tea anywhere in Wales and the star of the show, usually to be found nestling on the highest tier, is the famous bara brith, a traditional fruit cake with a unique flavour.

While Madeira, walnut and chocolate fudge cake all came in the top 40 most popular cakes, a study of 2,000 Brits saw cheesecake scoop the top spot with 37% of the vote. Chocolate cake took second place, ahead of the classic Victoria sponge.

Why did my Welsh cakes turn out hard, dry or crumbly? If your Welsh Cakes turned out hard, dry or crumbly, your mixture was probably not wet enough. Next time, add a little bit of milk so the mix is softer.

What is the shelf life of Welsh cakes? ›

For Welsh Cakes and Scones, we suggest eating within 3.5 weeks if unrefrigerated. 4.5 weeks if refrigerated and 20 weeks or more if frozen.

Immediately after baking, sprinkle with granulated white sugar or powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature. Welsh Cakes can be covered and stored at room temperature for several days or they can be frozen.

Fairy cakes are not, as their name might imply, themed cakes designed and decorated to the liking of fantasy and sci-fi fans. They are, simply stated, smaller versions of cupcakes. They're widely popular in the UK, and tend not to pile on the icing in the same way that American bakers do with cupcakes.

The last piece of the puzzle, an American biscuit is a crumbly leavened quick bread similar to what we call a scone in the UK.

Called Christmas cake or plum cake in Great Britain, the dessert dates to Roman times! The rich fruit and nut cake is 'fed' with brandy or whiskey - a few spoonfuls at a time, every few days for weeks.

The traditional recipe for an English wedding cake is a fruit cake. This type of cake has a long shelf life.