Llangollen
About Llangollen
The Welsh Lovespoon
Welsh Recipes
Here are some traditional Welsh recipes...
Bara Brith Anglesey Eggs Welsh Rarebit Orange Cheesecake
This is literally translated as ‘speckled bread’. Once a week, the stove was lit for baking day, as the heat began to fade in the stove, so a handful of currants was added to the last of the bread dough and this speckled bread became a treat. The flavour, however, of this spiced, honey-glazed fruit bread is delicious when spread with salted Welsh butter, and it is no wonder that Bara Brith is still produced all over Wales.

450g (1lb) mixed dried fruit
300ml (1/2 pint) tea
2 tbsp marmalade
1 egg, beaten
6 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
450g (1lb) self-raising flour
honey to glaze

Soak the fruit overnight in the tea.
Next day, mix the marmalade, egg, sugar, spice and flour. Spoon into a greased 900g (1lb) loaf tin and bake in a warm oven (gas 3, 325ºF, 170ºC) for one and three quarter hours or until the centre is cooked through. Check from time to time that the top doesn’t brown too much, and cover with a sheet of foil or move down a shelf in the oven if necessary.
Once cooked, leave the Bara Brith to stand for 5 minutes, then tip out of the tin on to a cooling tray. Using a pastry brush, glaze the top with honey.
Serve sliced with salted butter and some tasty farmhouse Cheddar. Store in an airtight tin.

A fine combination of eggs in a cheese sauce surrounded by creamy potatoes and leeks, and grilled until crisp on top. What better way to start a meal?

450g (1lb) potatoes, peeled
3 leeks, chopped
50g (2oz) butter
50g (2oz) flour
600ml (1 pint) milk
75g (3oz) Caerphilly cheese, grated
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 eggs, hardboiled and shelled

Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft. Cook the leeks in salted water for 10 minutes, or add the potatoes for the last 10 minutes of their cooking time. Drain well, then combine, season and mash together.
Make a cheese sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for a minute, then gradually stir in the milk and bring to the boil to thicken. Season well and add half of the cheese.
Take 4 individual dishes – ramekins or scallop shells are ideal – and with a fork arrange the leek and potato mixture around the sides. Chop the eggs and put in the middle of each dish. Cover with the cheese sauce and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
Brown quickly under a hot grill or heat through in a very hot oven (gas 8, 450ºF, 230ºC) for 10 minutes.

225g strong-flavoured cheddar, Caws Llyn
25g butter, melted
1 tbsp Worcester sauce
1tbsp English mustard
1 tbsp flour
4 tbsp Brains beer
4 slices wholemeal toast
Cayenne pepper

Grate the cheese and mix the remaining ingredients to a firm paste. Spread over the 4 slices of toast and grill gently until the topping is cooked through and well-browned.

 6oz Digestive biscuit
3oz butter or margarine
5oz double cream
5oz plain cottage cheese
2oz caster sugar
1 orange

Mix together crumbled Digestive biscuits and melted butter or margarine and press into the base of a 8” flan tin.
Whip up the double cream until thick and then fold in the rind and juice of the orange.
Add the cottage cheese and caster sugar. Spread the mixture on top of the flan base and set in the refrigerator.
Decorate the top with either fresh orange segments or tinned mandarins.

 

Welsh Country Crafts, 37 Castle Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire, LL20 8RU

Tel 01978 861540