Cherry and whiskey Welsh cakes
These Welsh cakes are a quick and easy teatime treat. The orange works well with the whiskey, but can easily be omitted.
For this recipe you will need a 6cm/2½in round cutter and a flat griddle pan or a heavy-based frying pan.
Ingredients
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú dried cherries
- 100ml/3½fl oz Welsh whiskey
- 250g/9oz self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 125²µ/4½´Ç³ú butter, chilled and cut into cubes
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
- lard or butter, for greasing
Method
Put the cherries in a small saucepan and pour over the whiskey. Heat until the whiskey starts to boil, then set aside to infuse for 1 hour.
Put the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the orange zest and the cherries, along with any whiskey that hasn’t been absorbed. Add the egg and cut it into the mixture using a knife – as soon as the mixture starts to come together as a dough, work it into a ball using your hands.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll out to a thickness of about 5mm-1cm/¼-½in. Using a 6cm/2½in round cutter, cut out rounds of the dough. Reroll any leftover dough and repeat. The dough should yield around 20 cakes.
Heat a flat griddle pan or heavy frying pan over a low-medium heat and lightly grease the surface with a little lard or butter. Cook the Welsh cakes in batches, for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until deep golden-brown and cooked through – do not have the heat too high or they will burn on the outside before they are cooked through. Cover a plate with caster sugar and coat the still hot Welsh cakes in the sugar. Serve warm or cold.
Recipe Tips
If the dried cherries are particularly large, cut them up with scissors to the size of currants.