Welsh Breakfast Cakes
Are you looking for a delightful new breakfast idea? Something different than a pancake? These little welsh breakfast cakes are the answer!
Are you looking for a delightful new breakfast idea? Something a bit different than a boring old pancake or waffle (as delicious as they may be)?
These unassuming little breakfast cakes just may be the answer.
While skimming through my King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion one Saturday morning, desperately trying to find an out-of-the norm breakfast idea for my family, I spied these little gems.
Similar to a biscuit in preparation, the butter is cut into the dry ingredients and a soft dough is formed by adding the eggs and milk.
The cute little cakes are dry-fried on a griddle or skillet and the result is a light and tender cross between a sweet biscuit and a pancake – divine sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and perfect with a drizzle of maple syrup.
I was thrilled with the puffed, sturdy texture and taste. They held together well enough to eat out of hand and the lovely, buttery texture was heavenly.
These keep excellently and warmed perfectly in the toaster the next morning. To say they were a hit is a complete understatement. I’m sure many future Saturday mornings will be seeing Welsh Cakes appear magically for breakfast.
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Welsh Breakfast Cakes
Ingredients
- 3 cups (426 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (212 g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (227 g) butter, cut into pieces
- ¾ currants, optional – I left out
- 2 large eggs beaten with enough milk to yield 3/4 cup liquid
Instructions
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture is a coarse, even consistency. Add the currants, then add the egg and milk. Stir to form a soft dough.
- Divide the dough in half and working with one half at a time (keep the other refrigerated, especially if your kitchen is warm), roll the dough into a circle 1/4-inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter or other small round cutter, cut circles of dough. Heat an ungreased skillet or griddle over medium heat (on my electric griddle I preheated to 300 degrees).
- Fry the cakes for about 2 minutes on the first side and an additional 1 1/2 minutes on the second, or until both sides are golden brown. As with pancakes, you’ll have to adjust the heat if you find the cakes are browned on the outside before they are thoroughly cooked in the middle. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Keep the cakes warm in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve. Sprinkle with granulated sugar or cinnamon-sugar before serving, if desired.
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Recipe Source: King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Yummy!
My family loved these!
My parents made these a couple years ago, and I couldn’t find the recipe. A while ago, I had an immense craving (as one does for good food) for these, so I dug and dug until I found it! These will cure your need for sweet golden brown buttery cakes that practically dissolve in your mouth.
My husband loves these! They turn out yummy, but I tend to have a lot of trouble with the dough. Maybe I’m just not very good at cutting in butter. The dough tends to get really sticky and difficult to roll out. I would love if you could do a video tutorial on these or on how to deal with cold butter dough like this!
Hi Mel, been following your blog for almost a year now your recipes have been such a lifesaver! But I failed miserably at this recipe ;; Do you have a tutorial on how to cut butter into dough? I haven’t tried it before today so I wasn’t quite sure what to be looking for and it turned out horribly. The dough just stuck to everything it touched – I had to just throw it away. Please help!
Hi Kris, sorry this recipe gave you trouble. I don’t have a specific tutorial on cutting in butter, sorry about that but maybe I can try and put one together. Did you use a pastry blender or two forks? Usually I just work the butter into the dough (quickly so the butter doesn’t get too soft) until the butter is pea sized and the mixture is coarse.
These look so good. The recipe says ‘ 3/4 currant. ‘ please clarify. 3/4 currant jam as a condiment??? That seems very scant for 36 fluffy sturdy pancakes. Thank you.
It’s 3/4 CUP currants to fold into the batter.