Welsh Cakes (Pice ar y Maen)

A delicious little cake flavoured with spice and dried fruit, baked on a griddle and best served warm and sprinkled with sugar. A real Welsh treat.

225g/8oz plain flour
100g/4oz butter
75g/3oz caster sugar
50g/2oz currants
½tsp baking powder
¼tsp mixed spice
1 egg
A pinch salt
A little milk to bind

• Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, mixed spice) together into a mixing bowl. 
• Cut up the butter and rub into the flour. 
• Stir in the sugar and fruit, pour in the egg and mix to form a dough 
• Use a little milk if the mixture is a little dry. 
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about the thickness of a biscuit. 
• Use a pastry cutter to cut out rounds. 
• Cook the cakes on a greased bake stone or griddle until golden. 
• The heat should not be too high, as the cakes will cook on the outside too quickly, and not in the middle. 
• Once cooked sprinkle with caster sugar and serve with butter.
• As an alternative you can try mixed dried fruit or tropical fruit. 
• Some grated lemon or orange rind is also good. 
• Add a little orange juice, zest and icing sugar to some soft butter to serve with the Welsh cakes.

Bara Brith

Bara brith, which literally means 'speckled bread' is a tea-time classic. It seems that almost every Welsh town and every family has their own recipe. This is mine

2 tea bags
330 ml (11 fl oz) boiling water
225 g (8 oz) mixed dried fruit
170 g (6 oz) self-raising white flour
170 g (6 oz) self-raising wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground mixed spice
55 g (2 oz) light muscovado sugar
1 egg, beaten

• Place the tea bags in a heatproof measuring jug and pour in the boiling water. 
• Stir, then leave to infuse for 3–4 minutes. 
• Put the dried fruit in a bowl.
•  Remove the tea bags, squeezing them over the jug, and pour the tea over the fruit. 
• Cover and set aside to soak for at least 5 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 160ºC (325ºF, gas mark 3).
• Grease and line a 900 g (2 lb) loaf tin. 
• Sift the white and wholemeal flours, baking powder and spice into a bowl, tipping in any bran left in the sieve. 
• Stir in the sugar.
• Pour in the soaked dried fruit, scraping in all the liquid from the bowl, and add the beaten egg. 
• Lightly mix the egg and fruit together, then stir in the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. 
• The mixture should be soft enough to drop easily off the spoon. 
• Add 2–3 tsp more hot water if needed.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and spread it out evenly. 
• Bake for about 1 1/4 hours or until the loaf is well risen and firm, cracked along the middle and browned on top. 
• Cover loosely with foil for the last 20 minutes of baking if it is becoming too brown.
• Leave to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 
• This teabread tastes particularly good if it is left for 1–2 days before eating.

Ponchmipe

Ponchmipe, or Ponch Maip, is a local dish from North Wales, where I was born. Maip is the Welsh word for turnip/swede. Ponch, as it sounds, means to punch or to mash. So, quite simply, its mashed potato and mashed swede or turnip, mixed together with a little butter and salt and pepper to taste. And to make it a bit more elegant, throw in a few chopped chives. Real comfort food. Lovely .