Alayne's Tiesen Lap

There are any number of Tiesen Lap recipes; just like Bara Brith - there are as many recipes as there are families in Wales!  This recipe comes from a book my cousin inherited from our Grandmother.  The original was a little dry for my taste so I’ve tweaked it a few times to make it even better!  It reminds me very much of a big Welsh Cake.

For the past several months I've been using duck eggs almost exclusively for baking and they really do make a huge difference.  My friend tells me that it's the fat content in the yolk - whatever it is, it's well worth looking for them to try, if only once or twice.

Grease and line an 8” diameter cake tin (approx. 20cm)

You will need :

220g self raising flour

1tsp mixed spice

60g each butter and lard, cut into small pieces

90g caster sugar

120g mixed fruit (sultanas and raisins)

2 large eggs

150ml milk

Caster sugar for dredging

Combine the flour, spice, sugar and fats in a mixing bowl and beat together to form a breadcrumb consistency.  Add the dried fruit, then the eggs and the milk and bring together to form a good thick batter.

Turn into the lined cake tin and bake in a medium oven for 35-45 minutes – until a skewer comes out clean.  I cooked mine at 180^oC (350^oF / gas mark 4) for 45 minutes.

If you use a springform tin and cake tin cases, you can loosen the tin as soon as the cake comes out of the oven, loosen the paper slightly and dredge the still hot cake with caster sugar.  Leave to cool completely before slicing and serving with a nice cup of tea!

Redcurrant Muffins

The basic muffin recipe here is a Delia Smith one (from her summer collection) that I have been using for very nearly 20 years!  It’s a very adaptable recipe, easy to scale up or down and you can add whatever variety of fruits you have to hand.  

For 12 muffins : 

10oz plain flour

½ tsp salt

1tsp baking powder

3oz caster sugar 

8fl oz milk

4oz butter (melted)

1 egg

1tsp vanilla extract 

4oz redcurrants (or blueberries, blackcurrants, cranberries etc!) 

Simply sift the flower into a bowl together with the salt and baking powder. Add the sugar and stir together. 

Melt the butter and leave to cool slightly.  Beat the eggs and add to the milk, then add the cooled butter. 

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a gentle folding action until both are combined.  Rinse and add the fruit to the bowl and stir. 

Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes at 200^oC/400^oF/gas mark 6.

 

 

Malt Loaf

I was helping out at a cricket tea recently and slicing up a very dry looking shop-bought malt loaf got me thinking about the first time I ever tasted malt loaf.  I don’t know if my tastes have changed over the years, or if the malt loaf (same brand!) tasted a lot nicer 30 years ago!! 

Then, in the way only an addled middle-aged memory can, my mind wandered off down a path and fast-forwarded to 20 years ago when I used to make malt loaf, from a recipe an Aunt gave me.  I used to soak the bran and fruit overnight, and come home after my stint at the colliery where I worked then and finish mixing and then bake it. 

It’s very much like my bara brith recipe in that you leave half the ingredients soaking overnight then just stir in a beaten egg and flour to finish. 

This is a lovely breakfast bread, the bran and fruit in it very good for the digestive system and it’s a fat free loaf too.  It’s absolutely delicious toasted and then spread with butter, but equally good cold and with a slice of cheese on the side! 

I hope you enjoy this lovely simple loaf as much as my family did.

After soaking, before adding the egg

1 cup self raising flour

1 egg

1 cup all bran

1 cup mixed fruit

½ cup sugar

1 cup milk 

Place the all bran, fruit, sugar and milk in a large basin and leave overnight to soak. 

The following day, stir in a beaten egg and then add the flour and mix well. 

Turn into a lined 2lb loaf tin and bake at 180^oC (350^oF / gas mark 4) for an hour.

I would like to dedicate this recipe to my late Auntie Marj, who kindly gave me the recipe.  Gone, but never forgotten.

Teisen Lap

Literally, plate cake this is a lovely moist light fruit cake that was traditionally cooked on a plate.  Not terribly dissimilar to the little Welsh Cakes I make, this is a lovely cutting cake to make when you are expecting company.  It’s a very light cake so it won’t keep as long as a Bara Brith, but is still a lovely teatime treat and very simple to make. 

Like Bara Brith, there are very many versions of this recipe, some use lard, some include sour cream you can take your pick!  The version I use is : 

6oz butter

10oz plain flour

2tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

½ tsp mixed spice

6oz caster sugar

6oz mixed dried fruit

3 large eggs 

Firstly grease and line the bottom of a 7” sandwich tin and preheat your oven to 190^oC / 375^oF / gas mark 5. 

 

Sieve together the flour, baking powder, salt and mixed spice add the butter and mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs – I stuck it all in the stand mixer to do this! 

 

Add the sugar and fruit and mix together.  Beat the eggs and add them, a little at a time (if the mixture seems dry add a little milk). 

 

Turn the mixture out into your sandwich tin and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, turn the oven down to 180^oC / 350^oF / gas mark 4 after 20 minutes.  It is cooked when it is nicely browned, firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean.

Victoria Sandwich

There was some interest on my Facebook page so I thought I’d write a quick blog post to share this simple glory with those of you who have never tried it before. 

There’s a simple rule of thumb when making Victoria sandwich (sponge) cakes and that is for every egg you use, you need 2oz each of flour, sugar and butter.   

As a general guideline, I usually make a four egg mixture (which uses 8oz each of flour, sugar and butter) for a nice deep sponge in two 7” diameter sandwich tins. 

To make a cake the size pictured I used : 

4 large eggs

8oz caster sugar (superfine I think in the States)

8oz butter

8oz self raising flour (cake flour)

1tsp vanilla extract 

To fill the cake :

Sandwich Tins

Small pot of double cream (heavy cream)

3 or 4 tsp raspberry jam 

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and then beat in the egg, gradually and then add the vanilla extract.  Add the flour and mix in until everything is combined. 

Grease and line two 7” sandwich tins and divide the filling between them. 

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 170^oC (325^oF/Gas 3) for approximately 30 minutes. 

Keep a close eye on them and test after 30 minutes with a skewer.  If it comes out clean then the cakes are done. If not give them a little longer but watch them closely.

Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Soften the jam a little in the microwave (it only needs seconds) before spreading over one of the sponges and then cover with the thickly whipped cream.  Turn the other sponge onto the top of the filling to sandwich, and dredge the top with icing sugar (confectioner’s/powdered sugar). 

To make it extra special I often add whole raspberries to the filling too.   

(You could use strawberry jam and use sliced or halved strawberries in the middle) 

For cricket teas I often make a five egg sponge (10oz each butter, sugar and flour) in one of these (10" x 6") oblong tins.  When cold cut the sponge in half and then split the halves through the middle.  Cut each of the four pieces into smaller squares (I think I used to get something like 30 from this tin) and spread with whipped cream and some fresh fruit – sliced strawberries or whole raspberries go down very well!

Welsh Cakes

What can I say about these little beauties?  I grew up on these, my Grandmother, who lived in the same street as us and with whom I was incredibly close, used to bake them all the time.  My mother, who didn’t like them, used to bake them often for us – they were a staple of my childhood!  

Hubby loves them, and sometimes I make one or two with a heart cutter for him – usually when I want something but hey ho, it’s the thought that counts right?! 

These are at their absolute best while still slightly warm off the bakestone and with a cup of Earl Grey for some reason!  They don’t keep very well, which is just as well as they don’t hang around.  I always sugar mine but if you keep half un-sugared, if they last longer than two days they are delicious buttered. 

Traditionally cooked on a bakestone – a cast iron flat griddle.  Mine came to me from my

mother and was made for her by my great-uncle ....... at work in his job as colliery blacksmith! 

The recipe I use is as follows : 

12oz plain flour

8oz butter (or margarine)

5oz sugar

5oz dried fruit (I usually just use currants)

1tsp baking powder

½ tsp mixed spice

Pinch of salt

1 egg

Sieve together the flour, baking powder and mixed spice and add the sugar and butter and rub together as though you are making pastry.  I stick the whole lot in the KitchenAid and let it get on with it!  Then add the dried fruit and then the egg to bring it all together.  If it seems at all dry add a drop of milk.    

Roll out to a ½” thickness on a well floured surface and using a 2 ½” cutter cut into rounds. 

Lightly grease and heat your bakestone on the hob and cook the cakes for approximately 4 minutes each side.  The timing is very hit and miss to be honest, because the temperature of the bakestone depends on how long it has been on the heat and how high the heat is!  All I can say to you is to use your eyes and nose.  Flip them over when you think they are done on one side and check the colour – if they are underdone just flip them back to finish later. 

As they are done remove to a cooling rack and sprinkle with caster sugar on both sides. 

Some people prefer them with jam instead of fruit.  If you want to try that proceed as above but omit the dried fruit and when the cakes are cooked split them through their middle and spread with jam. 

I prefer them sugared, or stale and buttered!

I’ve made these for the cricket club from time to time and they disappear at an alarming rate when the tin is brought out! 

I’d like to dedicate this recipe to my lovely Grandmother.  She’s been gone for 26 years and I still miss her.

Bara Brith - a little bit of Welsh hospitality from my home to yours!

I was making one of these cakes this morning for my elderly next-door neighbour and it occurred to me that I should share it with you all.  It’s a traditional bit of Welsh hospitality, and there are as many variations as there are families in Wales I should think!  No Sunday Tea round at Mam’s would be complete without a plate of buttered Bara Brith.  It’s as comforting to us as mother’s milk!  In my family this is a real institution, my cousin and I seem to have either a batch of Bara Brith or Welsh Cakes on the go constantly! 

I make it now for the cricket club teas and it disappears as though a plague of locusts hit the buffet!  

This is my version, it’s a fat free cake and just about the simplest you can imagine making.  It does require some planning, as the fruit has to be soaked overnight (or for several hours) but after that you simply stir in a beaten egg and some flour - what could be easier.  It tastes deliciously rich, and belies the simplicity of its making.

You can ring the changes and make it a little bit more special by using different fruits and nice tea.  It’s particularly nice made with Earl Grey tea, and even better with Lady Grey tea.  For Christmas I always like to make it with the addition of dried cranberries to the fruit mix. 

The basic recipe is : 

12oz of dried fruit (currants, raisins, sultanas)

8oz light muscovado sugar (don’t get hung up on this, I often use soft brown sugar)

½ pint of strong hot tea 

1 egg, beaten

10oz self raising flour 

Make up half a pint of strong tea. 

Place the dried fruit and sugar together in a bowl and add the tea, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Cover with a clean cloth and leave overnight for the fruit to swell and absorb the tea.

The next day, simply beat an egg and stir into the fruit mixture, then stir in the flour and mix well. 

Turn into a lined 2lb loaf tin and cook at 150oC (between 275/300oF) for 1½ to 1¾  hours, until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 5 to 10 minutes and then turn onto a rack to cool completely. 

Best served sliced thickly and buttered (thickly!), with a nice cup of tea on the side!

I would like to dedicate this particular recipe to my dear neighbour, Peg.  I always give her one of these for Christmas, and on odd occasions through the year we often share a loaf; this is her favourite cake!

(Bara Brith is pronounced Bar - as in barrel, a - as in apple, Bri - as in Brit and th - as in thanks.  Translated, it means speckled bread)