We like to home school in a way that allows our children to learn through their interests but we also like them to learn about important topics such as Welsh history. It is up to them to decide how deep they want to go with their learning, we will just give them the subject and tools in an interesting way to get them started.
So as Rayne and Rose are really keen on baking at the moment, we decided to make Welsh cakes to learn about and celebrate St David’s Day this year.
St David’s Day is an offical holiday here in Wales on 1st March and all the children usually dress up in traditional Welsh clothing or Welsh rugby tops to celebrate.
Welsh Cakes are a very popular snack in Wales. They are not actually baked, traditionally they were cooked over a hot bake-stone but they are mainly cooked on a griddle or even in a frying pan, a bit like pancakes. They are really easy to make and quick enough for kids not to get bored. Rayne and Rose love getting their hands in to rub the flour and butter together! I love them as we are almost always likely to have all the ingredients in the fridge or pantry!
We love eating Welsh Cakes as an afternoon snack or on a cold winters day with hot chocolate. Welsh Cakes are also a big hit with any guests or family who visit from outside of Wales. They are my American step-father in law’s favourite!
Ingredients
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Main Ingredients
Instructions
- Add the flour, baking powder and butter to a bowl and rub together with fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, currents and mixed spice.
- Beat the egg and milk together then add to the mixture. Mix into a firm dough, adding more milk if necessary.
- Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface to a thickness of around 5mm then cut using a round cutter. We used a 2.5in cutter which gave us around 25 small Welsh Cakes.
- Lightly oil a griddle or frying pan and put on a high heat. Turn the heat to low then cook your Welsh Cakes for about 3 minutes on each side, (you may need to do this in batches). Keep a close eye - you want your Welsh Cakes to feel springy to the touch but not wet.
- Once cooked dust with caster sugar and enjoy.
Notes
You can swap the raisins for chocolate chips. Be sure to eat them while they are still warm and gooey!
