Welsh Recipes - Part One

Bara Brith - Welsh Tea Cake

This winter I'm trying out some traditional Welsh recipes. It's part of my effort to get in touch with my ancestral roots. I view pictures and read travel articles on a country, search for recipes and then try out a few. Last year, I cooked up some lamb even though I hadn't cooked meat in years. It was part of my process of learning about my Scottish ancestor's food traditions. I also modified recipes a bit for diet restriction reasons. I'm doing the same this year as I explore Welsh recipes.

Welsh recipes are very simple. They use only a few basic ingredients. So, now I know where my love of simplicity comes from! Many of the recipes call for cheese. Since I have a lactose intolerant family member, I will have to hold off on those recipes until I can figure out either how to modify, or cook two meals at once - A Welsh cheese recipe for me, and a lactose free version for hubby. That will be later in Part Two.  

Recipe serves eight

For now, I focused on recipes that needed little modification. The photos above are of Bara Brith, a Welsh Tea Cake. As a tea lover, I was excited to see the recipe called for soaking raisins in Earl Grey Tea for six hours. I was certain the Bara Brith would have that Earl Grey flavor. It didn't. In the future, I may add some fennel seeds to bring out the tea flavor. The recipe called for either a six inch cake pan, or an eight inch pan. Since I only had an eight inch pan, that is what I used. I wished I had borrowed or bought a six inch pan, because that would have made the cake taller and possibly moister. My first taste of Bara Brith seemed a bit bland and dry, however I stumbled upon a trick. I wrapped half and put it in the freezer for a few weeks. Once thawed, it was wonderfully flavorful and moist!

Bara Brith:

10 oz. strong Earl Grey Tea

10 oz. Raisins

Lemon Zest

9 oz. Organic Oat Flour

2 tsp. Baking Powder

1 large Egg, beaten

1/2 tsp. Ceylon Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Cardomom

5 oz. Organic Palm Sugar

1 tsp. Fennel Seeds (optional)

Soak raisins in tea for six hours. Then add remaining ingredients (do not drain tea, you need it for moisture). Grease 6 or 8 inch cake pan. Add batter. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and bake 90 minutes. Cool. Serve, or Freeze for more flavor later. Serves 8.

Next up was Welsh Onion Cake! It's actually more potato than onion, but whatever we call it, it qualifies as good old fashioned comfort food! The original recipe called for butter, which I changed to olive oil. The potatoes and onion are sliced very thin, and then layered.

Drizzle each layer with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper

Welsh Onion Cake:

4 Potatoes (I used Red Bliss), sliced thin

1 large onion, sliced thin

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Grease casserole dish. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Overlap slices from the first potato in bottom of dish. Spread 1/3 of onion slices. Drizzle olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Repeat, ending with the 4th potato slices on top. Cook 45 - 60 min. 

Welsh Onion Cake

Welsh Onion Cake served with Organic Tempeh and Snap Peas

Last I tried the simplest Welsh recipe of all - Black Current Plate Pie. Basically it is pie crust, currents, and sugar - super simple! It's called Plate Pie, because you make and bake it on a ten inch oven-safe plate. Since I wasn't sure how oven-safe my dishes are, I prepared and baked it in a pie tin, ignoring the contours of the tin and pretending it was a plate. The result is a hardy rustic tart.

Black Current Plate Pie

Not having access to fresh black currents, I substituted with Tiptree Black Current Preserves. This way I didn't have to add any sugar. The preserves are a bit tart, but I like tart better than too sweet. While I was at it, I simplified further by using a boxed pre-made grocery brand pie crust from my local grocer. All I did was open the package, and unroll it onto the pie tin, spread the preserves, and top with a second crust! I think my simple-recipe loving Welsh ancestors would be proud!

Recipe serves six

Black Current Plate Pie:

2 ready made pie crusts

Black Current Preserves

Milk and sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out crust. Spread preserves in middle. Brush water on edges of crust. Top with 2nd crust, roll edges under and pinch to seal. Brush top with a little almond milk, and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Slice vents in crust for steam to escape. Bake 25-30 minutes. Serve plain, or with ice cream, or whipped cream. Serves 6-8.

Simple Simple Plate Pie

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides. 

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