I was born on a small island in North Wales, the isle of Anglesey. There I grew up with the usual traditional Welsh foods thinking nothing of it. That is until one day I went to school on shrove Tuesday and realized that we did not eat these “pancakes” that they was serving at school. They was too flat and tasteless to be pancakes. Every year after that, my mother make pancakes for me to take to school, not that she was not already making tons of them already, but she was good to me like that. I used to take a whole “batch” (full one mix worth) to school with me and share them around my class mates. I was remembered every pancake day for years after.
As I was growing older, I also realized that a lot of the foods that I was eating was the old school traditional Welsh foods. Once again I did not think too much into it because I am Welsh and we lived in Wales. After leaving home to live my own life, I learned a lot about other people’s eating habits, it was not quite like ours. That when the total realization hit me that despite many people were born there and was “Welsh” not many was living the Welsh life. Both my parents and all my grand parents and everyone I ever knew in my family tree went back to the celts. Well I was always told that the pancakes we ate was the real Celtic version and had been passed down from generation to generation in our family for hundreds of years. After that, I appreciated more of what I had taken for granted all of my life. We all hear about the Welsh tea cakes and the cawl and so on, yes, they are the stereotypical of the Welsh cuisine. You do not hear much about the traditional Welsh pancakes, that is until you talk to the old Welsh people. A lot of the English people came to live in our area as I turned into the teens. Many traditions was lost and everyone wanted to be in the cities.
I am going to share with you all our REAL WELSH PANCAKE recipe and instructions on how to make them. The reason is, it is the most oldest and original piece I have from my family, my past and I do not want the real Pancakes to be missed and forgotten by people.
Ingredents
1 lb Flour (I now use self-raising flour but you can still use all purpose flour and baking soda)
1/2 lb Sugar (granulated)
4 medium eggs
1 pint of milk
1 stick of butter
Now back in my day, we used to make these on the hotplate of the AGA/Rayburn we had in the kitchen which in my opinion, is the best way to cook of all time, but these days a non-stick frying pan on a stove does the same trick.
Instructions
Put the flour, sugar and eggs in bowl and mix as much as you can. I used to do it all be hand, but now I use an electric hand mixer. It is tough on the wrists because there is a lot of flour in comparison to the eggs at this point. Mixing it thoroughly is always important, especially at this early stages.
In another pan, pour in 1/2 of the milk and the stick of butter, warm over a hot stove until the butter has melted. Once butter is melted, remove from heat and add in the remainder of the cold milk.
Now this is the most crucial part… add the SOME of the milk mixture to the flour mixture and blend in completely and smoothly, add a little more and mix in thoroughly and so on until all milk and flour mixes are totally combined. By this stage, if the milk has been added gradually and mixed in thoroughly each time, then the final mix should be completely smooth and no lumps at all. This is the difference in the final taste and quality of the pancake.
Cover mixture and leave in the fridge for an hour (or over night if you want them for breakfast). Preheat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. I add a tiny bit of butter for the 1st pancake to get made, after that it is not required. I use a laydl and put some in the pan. You wait until you see bubbles appear on the top side of the pancake. Carefully flip over and cook for less than one minute.
CONGRATULATIONS! you have made your 1st Welsh pancake….. One of these mixes should make 30 medium or 40 small pancakes. Needless to say these do not even touch the sides with my children and I frequently make a batch for breakfast. Hope you enjoy your Welsh pancakes.