Having recently made London Cheesecakes which don’t contain any cheese I am following that up with another British bake, this one suggested by my sister Margaret, which is called Welsh Cheese Cakes. These are also a bake where the name can be deceptive since there is no cheese in these either.
They are actually very simple to make and are just a layer of pastry filled with a little raspberry jam and topped with a cake mixture. Some recipes place a cross of pastry on the top as well.
Not overly sweet, if you follow my recipe, since there is no sugar in the pastry and not too much in the cake mixture. But the raspberry jam give the cake that extra hit of sweetness, along with the sharp taste of the raspberry,
The cakes don’t take long to make either, and can be ready to eat in about an hour. The simple pastry comes together easily and is then rolled out. Discs of pastry line the holes of a bun or patty tin(or you could use a muffin tin and line the holes about half way up the sides.
Then some jam is placed on the base of the lined holes and topped with an easily made cake mixture.
Baked until the cakes rise and turn a nice golden brown colour(about 20 to 22 minutes) they are then allowed to cool before serving.
I originally expected to bake for between 16 and 20 minutes, but extended the baking time to 22 minutes to achieve the level of bake I required. I have adjusted the timings in the recipe to account for the extra time I used.
Mine turned out very well indeed, nicely baked with a soft cake, a crisp pastry and that lovely hit of raspberry jam too.
I also included just a little lemon zest, which is entirely optional, for a little extra flavour in the cake.
Welsh Cheese Cakes
Ingredients
- For the pastry
200g(1 1/3 cups, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup)plain flour
100g(7 1/4 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cubed
60-75g(4 – 5 tbsp) cold water
pinch of salt
- For the filling
56g(4 tbsp) softened unsalted butter
56g(1/4 cup _ 1 tsp) caster sugar
84g(1/3 cpu + 3 1/4 tsp) plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 medium egg(large in USA)
15ml(1 tbsp) milk
zest from 1/2 lemon, optional
2 tbsp raspberry, or more if desired
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/375 F.
- Place the flour, salt and cold butter into a processor(you can rub in between your fingers instead) and blitz to a fine breadcrumb texture.
- Add about 3 tbsp water and process until the mixture forms into a ball of dough, adding more water as necessary.
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a thickness of about 1/8 inch(3mm)
- Use a 9cm(3 1/2 inc) cookie cutter to cut out discs of dough.
- Carefully line the holes of a patty tin with the pastry, rolling out the excess to get 12 filled holes.
- Cream the softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and mix thoroughly until fully combined.
- Mix the baking powder into the flour and add half of it into the batter. Then carefully fold in until just combined.
- Add the milk and fold in until combined.
- Add the other half of the flour mixture and fold in again.
- Spoon about 1/2 tsp of raspberry jam on to the base of each of the pastries(you can use more if you wish).
- Carefully spoon the cake mixture over the jam, dividing equally between the 12 holes.
- Bake in the oven for between 20 and 25 minutes until the cakes rise, are firm on top and have turned a golden brown colour.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
These are called Tarts Sioned in Welsh
Nice
I must say these look very appetising. I will give them a go.
I like the look of these and will be trying them soon. Thanks for the recipe.