As my wife originates from Wales I try to cook up something Welsh related on March 1st every year to celebrate the feast day of St.David. Last year it was Welsh cakes; this year I turned to another famous baked item from Wales: bara brith.

Bara brith translates from the Welsh into “speckled bread”, a fruity loaf made with dried fruit and mixed spices. The fruit is traditionally steeped in tea overnight to enhance the flavour, and the loaf is typically served sliced and buttered with a cup of tea.

Mixed spice is a peculiarly British blend that seems to have no direct equivalent in the States. The closest thing in the USA is pumpkin pie spice but that is usually too heavy on the cinnamon for my liking, so I mix my own blend from allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, coriander and ginger.

This is a relatively simple recipe. It just needs a little forward planning to soak the fruit in tea the day before you plan to bake it.

Enjoy, and have a happy St.David’s Day, or dydd gŵyl dewi hapus.

Bara Brith

Based on this recipe

1lb dried mixed fruit  (I used a 50/50 mix of sundried raisins and golden raisins)

9oz brown sugar

10 fl.oz. warm black tea (I made a strong brew of English Breakfast Tea)

2 tsp mixed spice (see recipe below)

1lb self raising flour

1 egg, beaten

Mix the fruit and the sugar with the tea and leave to steep overnight.

The following day, preheat the oven to 325F.

Sieve the flour into the fruit and tea mix and then add the mixed spice and the egg. Mix well.

Pour the mix into a loaf tin lined with parchment paper.

Put in the oven and bake for around 70-75 minutes. The bara brith is done when a skewer stuck into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

Mixed Spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground nutmeg

0.5 tsp ground mace

0.25 tsp ground ginger

0.25 tsp ground coriander

0.25 tsp ground cloves

Mix the spices together until thoroughly blended. Store in a sealed container. As well as using in this recipe this is a versatile mix that can also be used in other British baking recipes like fruit cake and hot cross buns.

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I can claim no Welsh heritage but my wife hails from that part of the world so on March 1st every year we will find some small way to recognise the feast day of St.David, the patron saint of Wales.

A Welsh bishop who lived in the 6th century, St.David does not get the global recognition or celebrations that St.Patrick gets later in March but his day is still widely celebrated in his homeland. Many people in Wales will wear a leek or a daffodil on March 1st in recognition of the day but as that would probably raise some eyebrows where I live I opted for a culinary celebration: a batch of humble yet delicious welsh cakes.

I hesitate to call this an old family recipe but it did come from my Welsh mother-in-law in the form of an an old postcard that is suitably tattered and stained from many years in the kitchen.

I had never paid much attention to the source of the card but a little research revealed the story of Jeremiah Hoad, an accomplished artist whose work was not simply restricted to whimsical Welsh postcards. His life encompassed a range of Celtic influences. He was born in Scotland in 1924 to an Irish father and an anglo-Scottish mother. He moved to England at the age of 15 and studied at Winchester School of Art. In 1967 he moved to rural Wales and in the early 70s produced the “Lluniau Cymreig” range of postcards and prints featuring black and white line drawings of Welsh influenced themes and landscapes. From 1981 until his death in 1999 he lived in Donegal and produced many fine landscapes of that beautiful part of Ireland. You can see more of his work here.

With the impromptu art history lesson out of the way it is time to focus on the recipe. It calls for two ingredients commonly found in British baking recipes but less common on this side of the Atlantic. If you don’t have self raising flour to hand you can make it yourself by adding baking powder and salt to all purpose flour. Caster sugar is a finely ground sugar: finer than regular granulated but not as fine as powdered. It often crops up in British baking recipes as it is easier to incorporate into the other ingredients and melts faster. You can substitute “superfine” sugar or make your own by whizzing up some granulated sugar in a food processor. In this particular recipe I find you can get away with using regular granulated sugar.

Welsh Cakes

8oz all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

0.5 teaspoon salt

4oz unsalted butter

4oz sugar (granulated or caster)

1 egg

4oz currants or raisins

Pinch of salt

Milk

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Rub the butter into the flour mix. This can be done quickly and easily in a food processor.

Add the sugar, currants, egg and a pinch of salt to the mix and combine into a soft dough. If the mix is too dry you can add a splash of milk to help bring it together.

On a floured surface, roll the dough until it is about a quarter of an inch thick and then cut circles of about 2 – 3 inches.

Lightly grease a griddle or pan with butter and then cook the cakes over a medium-low heat until they are golden on both sides, around 5 minutes per side.

Once cooked sprinkle lightly with sugar before enjoying.