This Welsh griddle cake is the second recipe that I’ve tried out from my most recent cookbook, Welsh Fare: A Selection of Traditional Recipes by Sara Minwel Tibbott.
The recipe and method were a little on the vague side; for example, it just states, “buttermilk or milk”… no quantity. However, I think I muddled through OK – aiming for a soft, but workable dough.
Known as a ‘Cacen Gri’ in Welsh, it’s cooked on a cast iron baking stone, and is almost the size of the stone itself!
Going back to the slightly ambiguous directions, the recipe states, “split in half when warm…”. To make it clearer, I think it should read, “split in half horizontally“.
Alongside the recipe in the cookbook, the author explains:
This cake would be prepared in Merioneth when bread was in short supply, or when friends were expected to tea.
We can wholeheartedly agree that griddle cake is scrumptious and a mug of tea alongside is a perfect pairing!
- 230g/8oz plain flour
- 115g/4oz butter
- 60g/2oz sugar
- 1 egg, well beaten
- 60g/2oz currants
- ¼tsp salt
- ½tsp bicarbonate of soda
- buttermilk or milk (I'd say 50ml/1¾ fl oz is about right)
- Rub the butter into the flour, add the other dry ingredients and mix thoroughly
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the buttermilk and bicarbonate of soda and then pour the egg into the buttermilk
- Blend the dry ingredients with the egg and milk, and knead the mixture into a soft dough
- Turn out on to a well floured board, knead to a large ball and flatten with the palm of the hand to form a round, flat cake, approximately ½ an inch thick
- Bake evenly on both sides on a moderately hot bakestone
- Split in half when warm and spread thickly with butter