Welch Griddle Cakes Sweet Biscuits Recipes

WELSH CAKES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk and egg; stir just until moistened. Fold in currants., Pat or roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-in. biscuit cutter. Preheat griddle over medium heat. In batches, place cakes onto griddle; cook until tops puff and bottoms are golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Turn; cook until second side is golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

WELSH COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, zest, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks sandy. Stir in the currants. Beat the eggs and 2 tablespoons of the buttermilk together. Stir into the dry ingredients to make a shaggy dough, add more buttermilk if the dough is dry. Gather dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Roll the dough on a floured workspace into a piece about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into 2 to 3- inch rounds.
• Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium-low heat. Brush the pan surface with butter. Cook the cookies until slightly brown and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a rack, sprinkle with sugar and cool. Store in a cookie tin.

WELSH CAKES

Steps:

• Sift flour, baking powder and salt into bowl. Put in butter and lard and mix until resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar and currants or raisins. Beat the eggs lightly and add to flour mixture with just enough milk to make a firm dough similar to shortcrust pastry.
• Chill dough 1 to 2 hours.
• Roll the dough to 1/4 inch on floured surface and cut with 3 inch rounds. Bake the cakes on a greased griddle or frying pan (I use my electric skillet with just a little non-stick spray) over low heat until golden brown. Cool and sprinkle with sugar. These also freeze well.

WELSH COOKIES (AKA WELSH CAKES)

Steps:

• Preheat an electric griddle to 350°F.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt.
• Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender, fork, or two butter knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Stir in the sugar and currants.
• Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg and milk. Using a fork, mix until the dough comes together. It will be slightly sticky. If it is very, very sticky and too wet, add a little more flour.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Sprinkle some flour over the top of the dough and shape it into a disc. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a thickness of ¼ inch.
• Using a 2½-inch round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, cut out 14 cookies. You may have to re-roll the dough trimmings a few times.
• Lightly spray the griddle with cooking spray. Place as many cookies on the griddle as will fit without them touching each other.
• Cook on the first side until the bottom is lightly browned, about 4 minutes.
• Carefully flip over and cook until lightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Remove cookies from the griddle and place on a wire cooling rack. Immediately sprinkle with some sugar while the cookies are still warm.
• If you were not able to fit all of your cookies on the griddle at once, repeat the process with the remaining cookies.
• Serve warm or cooled.

SWEET BISCUITS FOR BREAKFAST OR SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400, I place a rack in lowest position in the oven.
• Combine dry ingredients.
• Cut in butter.
• Stir in liquid until it just begins to pull from the sides- it will be pretty moist.
• Spread 1/4 C flour on a pastry board and dump the dough onto the flour.
• Gently turn the dough until all sides are covered with flour.
• Knead by gently rubbing the dough into the flour, a scant 8 to 10 turns.
• Pat the dough into a 1 inch thich slab.
• Cut into rounds with a sharp round biscuit cutter- I use a 2 1/2 inch cutter-- you can push the scraps together to make room to cut a few more, try not to knead it too much.
• Place on insulated cookie sheet about 1/2 inch apart.
• Put in HOT oven and bake for 12- 15 minutes.
• You can test by lifting the top layer of the center biscuit; if it's done it will look dry inside and the edges will be golden.
• (I get 9 biscuits when I use a 2 1/2" cutter).

WELSH CAKES

Steps:

• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon zest. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut in butter until mixture is a sandy consistency. Stir in currants, candied citrus peel, egg, and milk until a soft dough forms. Gently knead to combine.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2-inch fluted square cutter, cut out squares; transfer to prepared sheets. Reroll scraps once and cut out more squares.
• Preheat a cast-iron griddle over medium. Lightly brush with butter. Working in batches, transfer dough squares to griddle and cook, turning once, until golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Adjust heat as necessary. Transfer to a serving plate; sprinkle with superfine sugar, as desired. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container at room temperature 3 to 5 days.

WELSH CAKES

Steps:

• Tip the flour, sugar, mixed spice, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Then, with your fingers, rub in the butter and lard until crumbly. Mix in the currants. Work the egg into the mixture until you have soft dough, adding a splash of milk if it seems a little dry - it should be the same consistency as shortcrust pastry.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to the thickness of your little finger. Cut out rounds using a 6cm cutter, re-rolling any trimmings. Grease a flat griddle pan or heavy frying pan with lard, and place over a medium heat. Cook the Welsh cakes in batches, for about 3 mins each side, until golden brown, crisp and cooked through. Delicious served warm with butter and jam, or simply sprinkled with caster sugar. Cakes will stay fresh in a tin for 1 week.

WELSH COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix flour, baking powder, salt and the 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl until well blended Cut in butter or margarine and shortening with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Toss in currants.
• Beat egg and milk with a fork in a 1-cup measure; add to flour mixture; mix gently with fork, just until blended. Dough should be consistency of pastry dough.
• Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness with floured rolling pin on lightly floured pastry cloth or board. Cut with 3 inch floured cookie cutter
• Heat greased griddle or large heavy skillet over moderate heat until few drops of water jump when dropped on surface. Cook cakes, a few at a time, 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn with pancake turner and cook another 3 minutes, or until golden brown on second side. Remove to wire rack. Sprinkle with sugar. Let cool completely, then wrap in plastic bags to store. Can also be frozen.

WELSHCAKES

Steps:

• Rub the butter into the flour as you would if making biscuits, then stir in the sugar, spice, and dried fruit. Add the egg to make a soft but not sticky dough. Form a disc, cover with plastic wrap, and leave in the refrigerator for a minimum of 20 minutes.
• Roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of about 1/4 inch, and cut out your little cakes; you will need to re-roll and so forth but that shouldn't be problematic. Preheat your unoiled griddle or cast-iron frying pan and cook the cakes for about 3 minutes each side, until golden brown. Remove to a cold plate and sprinkle with sugar.

WELCH GRIDDLE CAKES

Steps:

• Heat griddle on low. While griddle is preheating, grab your 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter (or a glass) and mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.Add the shortening and using 2 knives or an pastry blender cut the shortening into the flour mixture. With your hands, rub the flour and shortening until the ingredients are the size of small peas then rapidly between your fingers until it is the consistency like salt. ( You may also ditch the large bowl and pastry cutter and use a food processor)Stir in the raisins or currants together with the milk. Start with 2 T, then add a Tablespoon at a time until the mixture is just combined. Flour the counter lightly and roll out the dough to 1/3 inch thick. Use the cutter and cut out the rounds.Cook 5-6 minutes a side till lightly browned. Turn over and cook the same 5-6 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle, should come out clean. Transfer to a wire rack, and sprinkle with sugar.

WELSH TEA CAKES

Steps:

• Place flour in a large bowl; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the sugar, oats and nutmeg. Stir in the eggs and milk. Fold in currants., On a heavily floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in round cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. , Bake at 350° for 12-16 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

WELSH CAKES (CURRANT ROUND GRIDDLE BUTTER SCONES)

Steps:

• BY HAND: Cut the butter into small pieces. Place 1 1/2 cups of the flour in a bowl. Add the butter and cut with a knife or a pastry cutter to blend together into the texture of coarse meal.
• USING A FOOD PROCESSOR: Cut the butter into several chunks, place in a processor bowl with 1 1/2 cups flour, and process to the texture of coarse meal; turn out into a bowl.
• Add the sugar, salt, spices, and currants to the flour mixture and stir to mix. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat briefly with a fork to blend, then add to the mixture. Turn and stir to moisten so it comes together as a firm, moist dough.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and flatten under you palms, or use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick. Use a round 3-inch cookie cutter to cut out cakes. You should be able to get 12 or 13 from the dough.
• Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, rub the cooking surface with a lightly buttered paper towel, then lower the heat to medium low. Wait several minutes, then place 3 or 4 rounds top side down in the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes. Flip them over and cook on the other side for 3 minutes. Both sides will be touched with brown and a little black; the cakes will have risen a little, and their sides will still be moist looking.
• Turn back over and cook on the first side for another minute or so. Lift out and onto a rack to cool and set for 10 minutes or more before eating. Cook the remaining cakes the same way. (If you have two skillets, once you're comfortable with the timing, you can work with both.) Makes about 12 currant dotted, round butter rich scones. 3 to 3 1/2 inches across.
• Home Baking.