Welsh Cakes

Wales is a country in the western part of the island of Britain, also known as Great Britain. The country of Wales is a constituent part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (note: besides Northern Ireland and Wales, the UK, as it is frequently known, consists of England and Scotland). When elements of Germanic tribes invaded Britain about 1500 years ago, the population likely would have been largely Celtic based, with some Roman segment mixed in, as the Romans had been present as occupiers for about 400 years, but they had sent military forces there even before that. The Germanic elements, commonly called "Anglo-Saxons" collectively, did not pursue the Celts into what became Wales and Cornwall (in southwestern England); thus, to this day these areas have generally remained populated by people of Celtic heritage. With the Norman conquest of England in late 1066, the relationship of England with Wales was highly contentious, and it wasn't until the second half of the 1200s that forces of King Edward I of England subdued the Welsh.    

 

This is a type of Welsh griddle cake that is known beyond the border of Wales in Britain. I found that the basic simple recipe does not vary much, with the main differences being that some recipes don't use lard, some use nutmeg rather than mace, and various types of fruit can be used. If you don't have finely ground sugar, just put regular sugar into a blender or food processor briefly. The finely ground sugar combines more easily in the dough. The first time I made these cakes, I left the heat on medium and turned to wash a dish off in the sink. When I turned back to the stove, the cakes had burned; so, when I put the next batch into the skillet, I heated the butter and oil over medium heat, then turned it to low. I then put the cakes into the skillet and I briefly put a lid over the skillet to help the middle of the cakes to cook. I turned the cakes over, put the lid back on, and cooked the other side for about 2 minutes, I removed the lid and checked the cakes, which were golden brown. Understand, this is something you will have to use your own judgment with, and just check the cakes to see how they are browning, but you need to have them over the heat long enough to cook them in the middle. I'd suggest even turning the heat down to very low if need be (if the outside is browning too quickly to allow the inside to cook), and then let the cakes cook longer so that they brown nicely, but they cook all the way through. Remember too, these aren't pancakes, so you don't want to press down on the cakes to smash them. Some people use no butter or oil to fry the cakes, as they are already heavy with butter and lard, but I prefer to have a small amount of butter/oil mixture to coat the skillet for frying.    

 

Ingredients (about 12 to 15 cakes):  

2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

1/2 cup finely ground sugar granules (also called "caster sugar," NOT powdered sugar!)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon mace

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter, not soft or mushy

3 tablespoons lard

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup dried black currants (or raisins, sultanas or dried cranberries)

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon butter and 1 teaspoon oil mixture for frying

sugar for coating

In a bowl, add the sifted flour, fine sugar, baking powder, salt, mace and cinnamon, then add the butter and lard, and mix to form crumbs (I use my hand). Add the currants, beaten egg and milk and mix again to distribute everything throughout the dough. Put the dough into a ball, put it back in the bowl and cover the bowl. Let the dough rest for 30 to 45 minutes. Roll out the dough to 1/3 inch thickness, then cut the dough into 2 inch round cakes, like you would for biscuits or cookies. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a skillet (cast iron is good for this) over medium heat and add an equal amount of oil, then reduce the heat to low. Place some cakes into the skillet (don't crowd the pan) and cover the skillet. Cook for about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes, then flip the cakes over, cover again and cook for about 2 minutes to 3 minutes. You can sprinkle sugar onto the finished cakes, or you can dip them into sugar on a plate to coat them, or you can leave them plain.   

WORD HISTORY:

Requiem-This word is related to "quiet," "quit" and "acquiesce," all words of Latin derivation borrowed by English via French, although certainly with some Latin influence, and it is distantly related to "while," a word from the Germanic roots of English. The "re" prefix is a common word forming prefix in Latin often meaning "back, back to," but also, "again, once more," but at times its meaning is difficult to determine, and in at least some of those cases, it may have been used as an intensifier. The main part of the word goes back Indo European "kwiyeh," which had the notion, "to rest, to be still." This gave Latin the noun "quies," which meant "rest, quiet," which then was "requies" with the prefix, and meaning, "rest, lying at rest." The accusative singular form was "requiem," which also was used for a Christian religious service in remembrance of a dead person, and then also for music written for such a service. English borrowed the word from Latin in the very early years of the 1300s.