Wonderful Welsh cakes

Ingredients

    500 g self-raising flour , plus extra for dusting
    75 g caster sugar , plus extra to serve
    1 heaped teaspoon mixed spice
    250 g unsalted butter , (cold)
    150 g mixed raisins and sultanas
    1 large free-range egg
    a couple of splashes of milk

    FILLING

    300 ml double cream
    1 heaped tablespoon caster sugar , plus extra for sprinkling
    1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
    400 g fresh berries , such as raspberries, strawberries, blackberries
    1 lemon

Method

• Sieve the flour into an outsized bowl, then add the sugar and mixed spice.

• Cut the butter into cubes and augment the bowl with a pinch of ocean salt.

• Use your hands to rub it all at once till you get a fine crumb consistency, then add the edible fruit.

• create a well within the centre of the mixture and crack within the egg. Add a splash of milk, then use a fork to beat and blend within the egg.

• Once combined, use your clean hands to pat and convey the mixture along till you have got a dough. It ought to be fairly short, therefore don’t work it an excessive amount of.

• place an outsized heavy-bottomed non-stick pan on a medium heat.

• whereas it’s heating up, mud a clean surface and a kitchen utensil with flour and roll the dough out till it’s regarding 1cm thick. Use a 5cm pastry cutter to chop out as several rounds as you'll be able to. Scrunch the remaining scraps of dough along, then roll out and cut out a couple of additional.

• to check the temperature, cook one Welsh cake within the pan for a couple of minutes to act as a measuring system. If the surface is blonde, flip the warmth up a little; if it’s black, flip the warmth down – leave for a couple of minutes for the warmth to correct itself, then strive once more. once you've a golden cake when four minutes on all sides, you are during a really expert place and you'll be able to cook the remainder in batches. It’s all regarding management.

• As before long as they are available off the pan, place them on a wire rack to cool down and sprinkle them with powdered sugar. you'll be able to serve them a bit like this, as they're. Or, if you would like to try and do what I've done, gently cut every cake in [*fr1] whereas turning therefore you get a high and a bottom.

• Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla paste along till you have got soft peaks. place the berries into a bowl, slicing up any massive ones, and toss them with the juice of one lemon and a sprinkling of sugar. Open the cakes up, and add a touch small indefinite amount of cream and a couple of berries to every one.