Welsh Cakes

This post was written by Catholic Cuisine contributor, Charlotte from Waltzing Matilda. 

A sweet friend called my attention to this recipe and we decided to give it a try a little early to see if we wanted to add it to our St. David's Day feast. The kids loved them and begged me to make some more tomorrow! My husband's family has some Welsh heritage so we've found ourselves with a special, little devotion to this Welsh saint. This Welsh prince turned priest was responsible for founding many monasteries and condemning the Pelegian heresy. The original recipe is written using British cooking terminology, so I've made some changes to make it easier to understand for us 'mericans! ;)

Welsh Cakes

2 C. all purpose flour, sifted

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 stick (4 Tbl.) of salted (preferably Welsh) butter

1 egg

1/4 C. milk, (more if needed)

1/4 - 1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

1/3 C. caster sugar* (plus extra for dusting; see note below)

1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/8 tsp. allspice** (see note below)

extra butter for greasing

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. Rub or cut the butter into the flour mixture until it forms crumbs. Add the sugar, raisins and egg. Mix to combine into a ball using a splash of the milk if you need to get it to hold together.

Roll out dough until it's about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3-4 inch rounds. Use extra butter to grease a heavy griddle. Heat griddle to medium heat and cook cakes 2-3 minutes per side.  Turn only once.

 They should be a caramel brown, like pancakes, when cooked, although, some people prefer them almost burnt. Remove from pan and dust while still warm with the extra caster sugar.  Enjoy!

*Caster sugar is regular white sugar that has been processed to a finer texture. If you don't have any, just take a clean food processor or clean coffee grinder and process some regular white sugar until fine but not powdery. If you don't have any way to make your own, you can use powdered sugar but it's a different texture and usually includes some cornstarch. I used a coffee grinder for mine and in the picture below you can see that the homemade caster sugar is lighter and fluffier.

Homemade caster sugar on the left and regular white sugar on the right

** I read in other recipes that you could add some "mixed spice" for a more authentic flavor. British "mixed spice" is basically pumpkin pie spice but since I don't use pumpkin pie spice, I added my own blend of spices.

(Just to clarify… I don't use pre-made pumpkin pie spice because it usually has cloves and ginger in it. My family doesn't care for the taste of cloves and only tolerates ginger in small quantities. I mix my own spice blend only so I can control the flavorings. No other reason. If you want to use pumpkin pie spice, I would think a teaspoon would be all you need.)

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St. David's Day Soup

This post was written by Catholic Cuisine contributor, Charlotte from Waltzing Matilda. 

The feast of St. David is coming up on March 1st. In honor of the Welsh tradition of wearing leeks and husband's family's Welsh heritage, it's become our tradition to celebrate with leeks for dinner.

Creamy Chicken Potato Leek Soup

2 Tbl. butter
1 Tbl olive oil
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
4 small-medium leeks, cleaned and sliced
6-8 cups chicken broth
1-2 Tbl. cornstarch
4-6 cups of yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1C. of heavy cream
1 C. leftover chicken, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
shredded cheese to top, opt.

In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter.
Cook leeks in butter and oil until tender, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes.
Stir cornstarch into broth and pour broth into pot. Add the potatoes and chicken and bring to a boil. Pour in the cream, reduce heat and simmer at least 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
Mash potatoes for a chunkier soup or blend with an immersion blender for a smoother consistency.  Season with salt and pepper before serving.
Serve with shredded cheese on top.

Roasted Butternut Squash "Croutons"

2 C. butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 Tbl. olive oil

kosher salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss the squash cubes in the oil. Place on cookie sheet in single layer. Sprinkle with salt. Roast in hot oven for 25- 30 minutes. They won't be crispy like regular croutons but they will be incredibly flavorful.

God our Father, you gave the bishop David to the Welsh Church to uphold the faith and to be an example of Christian perfection. In this changing world may he help us to hold fast to the values which bring eternal life.

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Simple Daffodil Cake for St. David's Day

This post was written by Catholic Cuisine contributor, Charlotte from Waltzing Matilda. 

Many Welsh people wear one or both of the national emblems of Wales on their lapel to celebrate the Feast of St. David: the daffodil (a traditional Welsh symbol which is in season during March) or the leek (Saint David's personal symbol) on this day.

We've made a daffodil cake to celebrate the feast of St. David for a couple of years now. This is not an actual Daffodil Cake Recipe. It's my simplified version using any white cake mix. Have you ever made a fudge marble cake? This is a basic marble cake except I used a white cake recipe with some yellow food coloring and little lemon extract instead of fudge. You can use a white cake (box) mix if you like. 

Make the batter as the recipe or the box describes. Before you pour the batter in the pan, separate out about a cup of batter. Add yellow food coloring to the reserved batter until it reaches the desired color. I recommend going a little darker than you think you'd like because it will fade a little when it bakes. You can also add up to 1 tsp. of lemon extract for a light citrusy flavor.

Pour the white cake batter into the pan. (I like to bake the cake in my bundt pan.) Drop tablespoon fulls of the yellow batter all over the white batter. Using a butter knife or skewer, lightly swirl the colors together until you get a marble effect like above. Don't swirl too much! You want the colors to stay separate. Bake and cool as the recipe recommends for the type of pan you chose.

Served upside down with a little bit of glaze frosting and yellow sugar crystals my kids think it looks like a daffodil. The marbled white and yellow slices will delight them even more!

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Daffodil Cake for St. David's Day

As a whole, our family abstains from treats during Lent but since St. David's day fell on a Sunday this year, we decided to celebrate in a small way this patron saint of Wales. In the past, we have enjoyed a traditional Welsh treat called a bara brith which means "speckled bread". This year we opted for a Daffodil Cake because it sounded so intriguing when mentioned by Dawn in this post. Being low on egg whites, we opted for a simpler version. I made a white cake but set aside about a cup and a half of batter, flavored it with 1 tsp. lemon extract and mixed in some yellow food coloring. Then using a standard marbling technique, I swirled the dark yellow batter into the batter already in the bundt pan. It is hard to see in the picture above, but the marble effect was really striking. Cream cheese frosting was the icing on the cake! (Couldn't resist!)

Now, as we are thoroughly americanized Welshmen, we like to eat our leeks, not wear them. Here are two of our favorite leek recipes. Enjoy!

Potato Leek Soup
1/2 C. butter
2 leeks
4 C. chicken broth
1Tbl. cornstarch
4 C. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
2 C. half and half

Melt butter in a medium soup pot over medium heat. Saute leeks in butter with garlic salt and pepper as desired until leeks are tender, stirring frequently (about 10-15 minutes). Add broth, cornstarch and potatoes. Bring to boil. Add cream and reduce heat. Simmer 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. I like to use my full immersion hand blender to puree the soup at this point or it can be served as is. It goes great with a nice crusty bread!


Cheese and Leek Quiche
2 Tbsp. butter
3 eggs
4 oz. trimmed leek, thinly sliced
3oz. Stilton cheese, diced
1 1/2 oz. Cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 C. milk
pinch of paprika
salt and pepper
Premade pie crust (either store bought or homemade)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line quiche pan or pie plate with crust. Melt butter in a small skillet and saute the leek for 4-5 minutes. until soft but not brown, stirring frequently. Spoon into a bowl and stir in the diced Stilton, then spread over the base of the pie crust. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of leek and stilton mixture. Whisk eggs and milk together in a separate bowl. Pour over leek and cheese mixture and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 30-35 minutes until well risen. Remove and let stand 10 mintues.

I am sorry this post is so late. Happy St. David's Day! Pin It