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Welsh Griddle Cakes

A batter of flour, lard, eggs, baking powder, currants, and water is baked on a griddle into large cakes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Welsh Griddle Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. In a bowl, combine 3 pints flour, salt, and sugar to taste.

  2. Add 1 cup good lard and 2 eggs; beat all together.

  3. Mix in 3 teaspoons baking powder and 1 pound washed and dried currants.

  4. Add enough water to make a consistency like pie dough.

Cook and serve

  1. Roll out the dough to a size and shape that fits a skillet.

  2. Dust the skillet with flour.

  3. Bake the dough first on one side.

  4. Toss the cake and bake on the other side.

  5. Stack the cakes on top of each other.

  6. Cut from the top cake into slices like a pie.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

648Calories
19 gProtein
19 gFat
96 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Lard1 tbsp (12.8g)115
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the bulk structure that holds the dough together as it cooks.
Lard
Adds fat that keeps the cakes tender and short in texture.
Baking powder
Releases gas during cooking so the cakes rise and lighten.
Eggs
Bind the dough and add richness and structure.
Currants (in the method)
Add sweetness and chewy bursts of fruit throughout the cakes.

The step that matters

Bake the dough first on one side. Cooking over moderate heat lets the centre set before the surface browns too far. Flipping only once the underside is set prevents tearing and uneven cooking.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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