Heart-Shaped Welsh Cake Recipe

Share now or save for later

Love Welsh cakes? Just wait until you’ve tried these heart-shaped Welsh cakes! Okay, so they don’t taste any different to regular Welsh cakes, but trust me, you’re going to fall head-over-heels with them (and if not, you can always just use a round cutter instead! 😉 ) Perfect for St. Dwynwen’s. Day or Valentines Day, but just as delicious at anytime of the year!

I was raised on Welsh cakes. Every Saturday, my mum would take me to my grandmother’s house and, more often than not, she’d rustle up a batch of Welsh cakes for us on her cast iron bake stone. Once they’d turned a beautiful bronze in colour, she’d flip them onto a plate and sprinkle them with caster sugar, then we’d cwtch (a Welsh term for cuddle) up on the sofa and nibble on them in between sips of hot tea. Ahh, those were the days!

Sadly, my grandmother isn’t around anymore, but thankfully, her trusty old Welsh cake recipe has been passed down to me by my mother. For any of you who’ve not yet had the pleasure of sampling a Welsh cake, I should point out that they’re not usually heart-shaped, but I made a plateful of these to celebrate St. Dwynwen’s Day (the Welsh take on Valentines Day) on 25th January and they went down so well, I thought it would be a great idea to share the recipe on the blog today to celebrate Valentines Day.

A brief history of Welsh cakes

When Welsh cakes grew popular around the late 18th Century, Welsh women would bake them for the whole family to tuck into as a teatime treat, with any leftovers packed into children’s school lunchboxes and slipped into miner’s pockets (as Wales was once the world’s largest producer of coal).

What is ‘Welsh cake’ in Welsh?

At the time, Welsh cakes were known by a number of different names including “picau ar y maen” or “pice ar y mân”, “pice bach”, “cacen gri”, “tishan ar y mân”, “tishen lechwan” or “teisen radell”, dependent on what region of Wales you were from. They varied in size from small, round cakes to a single, round cake just as big as the bakestone itself. Over time, they’ve become more commonly referred to as Welsh cakes and small, round cakes are now the norm.

Today, Welsh cakes are popular throughout Wales and the rest of the UK year-round, although they’re most commonly eaten on 1st March to celebrate the Welsh patron saint, St. David. If you ever happen to be visiting my home city of Cardiff – the capital city of Wales – you have to pay a visit to Cardiff Bakestones in Cardiff Market, where you’ll see Welsh cakes being baked in the traditional way. Find more inspiration on where to eat Welsh cakes in Wales in this handy article from Visit Wales.

The basics of a traditional Welsh cake recipe

So, what is the traditional way to bake Welsh cakes?

Use a bakestone, griddle or heavy cast iron frying pan

The first thing to know about making Welsh cakes is that you’ll need to have either a traditional Welsh bakestone, a griddle or a heavy cast iron frying pan or skillet to hand. Traditionally made from stone or slate, bakestones usually measure around 30cm in diameter. Today, the modern form takes the shape of a cast iron griddle.

Bake stones and griddles are used for baking authentic Welsh recipes like teisen lap, bara brith and crempogau. As they can withstand high temperatures, they won’t buckle under extreme heat in the way a frying pan might and it also means they can be used for cooking over an open fire (hence their long history in traditional Welsh cuisine). If you’re looking to invest in a new bakestone or griddle, this one by Vintage Gourmet looks fairly authentic.

If you don’t have a bake stone or griddle to hand, however, you can also use a heavy cast iron skillet or frying pan like I’ve used here. Non-stick frying pans aren’t recommended, unless you want your Welsh cakes to burn and dry out.

Before you begin baking your Welsh cakes, you’ll also need to get your hands on a rolling pin so you can roll out your dough, along with some heart-shaped (or round) cutters.

What ingredients do I need to make Welsh cakes?

Once you’ve sourced your bakestone, griddle or cast iron frying pan, it’s time to start thinking about your ingredients. While Welsh cake recipes differ, the ingredients generally consist of fat (margarine, butter or lard), caster sugar, dried fruit, flour and an egg.

Some recipes use a mix of plain flour and baking powder, while others call for self-raising flour. I usually make my Welsh cakes with self-raising flour, but in all honesty I doubt it would make much difference either way.

Where the fat is concerned, the most common options are margarine, butter or lard. I use a 50:50 mix of salted butter and lard as I find this helps to retain moisture and prevent the Welsh cakes from becoming too dry, while ensuring they keep their flavour.

Not all recipes you’ll come across will use mace – my grandmother’s original recipe doesn’t include it – but I enjoy the warm, subtly spicy tones it adds to my Welsh cakes. Some recipes will call for nutmeg instead, whereas some use mixed spice and others don’t use any spices at all. The burnt orange lace-like layer found wrapped around a nutmeg seed, mace tastes like a milder version of nutmeg, making it ideal for use in desserts and sweet dishes.

Currants or raisins tend to be the preferred option when it comes to the dried fruit used in a traditional Welsh cake recipe, but I tend to use sultanas as this is what my grandmother used and they’re pleasantly plump and juicy. Find more inspiration on other ingredients you could substitute for currants, raisins or sultanas in my Welsh cake recipe below.

Welsh cake recipe variations

While traditional Welsh cakes are absolutely delicious and I rarely ever stray from my grandmother’s recipe, you can experiment with replacing the raisins, currants or sultanas with any of the following if you prefer (although I usually stick with the traditional version).

• Chocolate chips (milk, dark or white – the choice is yours!)
• Chopped glace cherries
• Dried cranberries (ideal for Christmas)
• Jam or lemon curd (slice the Welsh cakes in half and sandwich them back together)
• Cinnamon (use ground cinnamon in place of nutmeg)

Serve your Welsh cakes while they’re still slightly warm, dusted with caster sugar or spread with a little butter. Last year I made a wonderful honey butter to top my Welsh cakes with. They can also be eaten cold.

How long do Welsh cakes last?

Provided you store your Welsh cakes in an airtight container, they’ll stay fresh for around a week, but I recommend eating them within 3-4 days to enjoy them at their best.

Can I freeze Welsh cakes?

Although it’s entirely possible to freeze Welsh cakes, in my experience, they don’t taste quite as fresh and enjoyable once they’ve been frozen and defrosted.

However, I’m yet to experiment with freezing Welsh cake dough; I’ll make a point of trying this next time I make Welsh cakes and provide a further update.

Find my Welsh cake recipe below.

Print Pin

5 from 7 votes

Heart-Shaped Welsh Cake Recipe

These Welsh cakes are made using my grandmother's traditional Welsh cake recipe (along with a little added mace), with a romantic twist – they're heart-shaped! Perfect for Valentines Day, but just as delicious at any time of the year.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine British, Welsh

Keyword Welsh cakes, Welsh food, Welsh recipes

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes minutes

Total Time 23 minutes minutes

Servings 12 Welsh cakes

Calories 145kcal

Author Kacie Morgan

Cost $2

Equipment

• Bakestone, griddle or heavy cast iron frying pan (see notes)
• Heart-shaped cutter (or a round cutter, if you prefer)
• Rolling Pin

Ingredients

• 225 g self-raising flour
• 55 g lard softened
• 55 g salted butter softened
• 55 g sultanas
• 75 g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground mace
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/2 tbsp whole milk
• extra flour for dusting

Instructions

• Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl, add the caster sugar and ground mace and mix to combine.
• Use your fingers to rub the butter and lard into the mixture.
• Add the sultanas and then pour in the beaten egg, stirring throughly with a wooden spoon to combine. When the mixture starts to get drier, add the splash of milk and continue stirring. You might find it helps to work the dough with your hands too, to ensure the sultanas are evenly distributed.
• Lightly flour a work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll your Welsh cake dough out to around 1.5cm thick. Meanwhile, start heating up your bakestone, griddle or cast iron frying pan.
• Take your heart-shaped cutter (or round cutter, whatever you're using) and cut out hearts in the dough.
• Transfer the raw Welsh cakes to the bakestone, griddle or pan and cook each Welsh cake for four minutes per side, before turning them. Once cooked, they should be a deep golden brown in colour with a slightly squishy centre. Don't be tempted to overcook them, as they could burn and they might end up being too dry.
• Serve your Welsh cakes while still slightly warm, either alone or with a smidgen of butter on top.

Notes

• You’ll need a bakestone, griddle or cast iron frying pan to make Welsh cakes; if you. use a non-stick frying pan, they’ll likely burn and end up too dry. 

Nutrition

Calories: 145kcal

Share now or save for later