Welsh Cakes

My grandmother had a Belling stove with two rings at the back and a square hot plate at the front.

I have an early memory of making Welsh cakes with her and griddling them on the stove top ready to eat warm, sprinkled lightly with sugar. As my grandfather was born in Monmouthshire, South Wales, these were frequently made in their house.

This recipe has survived the generations as I came across it tucked into my mother’s recipe book. The note at the bottom ‘For economy sake …’ portrays a sign of the times!

I have halved the given recipe and doubled the amount of butter and egg to give a richer dough. This amount makes about 16 cakes.

225g self-raising flour

pinch of salt

100g cold butter

50g currants

50g caster sugar

+ a little for sprinkling when cooked

1 egg, beaten

splash of milk to mix

Sieve the flour into a bowl and add the butter, cut into small pieces. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs.

Add the currants, sugar and a pinch of salt and mix well. Add the egg and enough milk to make a fairly stiff dough.

Roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of 1 cm and using a round 6 cm crinkle cutter, cut out the cakes. Heat a griddle (or cast-iron frying pan) – no oil required - and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Be careful not to overcook or they will burn. When they're done, sprinkle with caster sugar.

Plum Jam

One year, we spent our summer holiday staying in a gite on a farm near Bergerac in France. At the end of our stay, the owner kindly gave me a bag of small yellow Mirabelle plums to bring home. This started my love of plum jam and since then I have made it every year. Plums come in all colours and sizes and this recipe will apply to all varieties.

Have a look at 'all you need to know about making jam' to learn about testing for set and tips on sterilising and filling the jars.

This recipe makes about 5 jars.

1.5kg plums, washed, quartered, and stoned

1.5kg granulated sugar

200ml water

10g butter

Put a small plate into the freezer.

Wash, quarter and stone the plums and put them into a large saucepan or preserving pan with the water.

Heat gently and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the fruit is soft. Stir occasionally. Add the sugar and stir over a low heat until dissolved. Then turn the heat up and boil for 10 minutes.

Take the jam off the heat and remove the plate from the freezer. Test for set. If you think it’s ready, stir in the butter (this will help to dissolve any scum).

Leave to cool for 15 minutes before spooning into sterilised jars.

When cool, label and date the jars.

Ginger cake - a spicy British classic

A classic from my grandmother's recipe book which unlike the rich, dark ginger loaf cakes favoured by many, is a light and moist cake made with golden syrup and lots of ginger.

This was originally made using lard, probably due to war time rationing. I would suggest butter these days.

There are also no eggs in this recipe, probably for the same reason, but the bicarbonate of soda keeps it light and the golden syrup keeps it moist.

I have halved the recipe for a 20cm cake tin.

Preheat the oven to 160ºC and line the base of a 20cm loose bottomed cake tin with greaseproof paper.

225g plain flour

60g demerara sugar

60g unsalted butter

½ tbsp ground ginger

½ tsp salt

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

125ml golden syrup

125 ml milk

Rub the butter into the flour - check out my scone recipe if you're not sure how to do this - then add the sugar, salt and ground ginger.

Heat the milk in a saucepan and add the golden syrup and bicarbonate of soda. Warm through, stirring to combine, and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix well. Put into your tin and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

When the time is up, I was taught to put a skewer into the middle, and if it comes out clean, it's done! If not, give it another 5 minutes.

Leave it in the tin for 20 minutes or so before turning out.