Every now and then I have a hankering for scones, but I have yet to bake a gluten-free version that makes the grade. However, this week’s recipe is very similar in terms of ingredients to scones, but instead of the traditional oven baking, these “cakes” are cooked in a frying pan. So good are they that they have now become my gluten-free scone-alternative of choice and can be whipped up and cooked in next to no time.
For a few years, my family used to holiday in Wales, where I can remember enjoying traditional Welsh cakes known as Cage Bach for the first time. Studded with currants, flavoured with the merest hint of spice, and served warm with butter, these were a very welcome and delicious teatime treat. Welsh cakes are traditionally cooked on a griddlestone, a heavy flat pan which sits directly on top of an open flame or stove top. They cook to a dense, but crumbly texture and are extremely moreish.
My recipe this week for griddle cakes is an homage to my Welsh ancestry and yet another happy childhood foodie memory.
Makes: 7-8
Ingredients
- 175g gluten-free plain flour blend + extra for dusting (If you are not gluten-free, use traditional wheat plain flour for a more authentic texture)
- 10g gluten-free baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 70g white vegetable fat or coconut oil + extra for greasing
- 70g caster sugar
- 70g currants
- 60-70g plain unsweetened dairy-free yogurt
- Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Rub in the fat until well blended. Stir in the sugar and currants.
- Add sufficient yogurt to make a softish dough. Turn on to a lightly floured surface and knead gently until smooth and well blended.
- Either press or roll the dough to a thickness of 1cm. Using a 7cm round cookie cutter, cut out 7 rounds, re-pressing or rolling the dough trimmings as necessary. I like to cook the rounds at 1cm thickness so that the cakes have a dense texture in the middle. If you roll out the dough to ½-¾ cm depth, you should make 8 cakes, and the resulting cakes will be crisper all the way through.
- Very lightly grease a flat griddle pan or large frying pan with a little fat and heat until melted. Place the cakes in the pan, reduce the heat to low and cook the cakes for 8-10 minutes on each side, taking care not to burn the outside – lift up the edge of 1 or 2 to check, and lower the heat further as necessary.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool a little. Best served warm, spread with dairy-free butter and your favourite jam. Yummy 🙂
Preparing and cooking griddle cakes. Images: Kathryn Hawkins The cakes are best eaten on the day of cooking but they freeze well and defrost in next to no time. You can reheat them successfully by popping them in a low oven for a few minutes to heat through.
Griddle cake with butter and jam. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
My Virtually Free-from Kitchen 
Hi all . Mrs is gf so will try this however in England gf flours are very expensive and harder to get most but I have tried so many ( most not great) but anyone starting out try to get “schar” all purpose use teaspoon baking powder and same xanthem powder add a tad extra liquid by means of maybe yoghurt or buttermilk and usually I go two medium per 1 large egg (adjust egg if appears heavy) and most recipes work it makes good pastry no liquid just egg ( butter X or marg ) salt ( sugar for sweet )
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Hi there Anthony. Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog and for your comment about GF flour. I agree, flour mixes are expensive. I have started to put my own combinations together. http://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk sell lots of different GF flours individually, which means you can make up a big batch of flour at a fairly reasonable price. I haven’t tried Schar flour, I will look out for some. I think some of their breads are quite good. All the best to you and your wife and I hope you enjoy your baking. Thanks, Kathryn 🙂
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Thank you for that lovely lady that was nice. I find you could go on years mixing x matching but we live in very small bungalow space is limited so stori g lots of flour along with cost is not easy. That’s wy when I found schar I was pretty pleased a Victoria type sponge or lemon drizzle with small tweeks to eggs x liquid and they lovely and sealed in a airtight tub you get 3-4 days and last bit can go in a trifle. I’ve made most things with it. Another item have you tried amaranth crackers or biscuits a bit fidly until you get heat of pan right but they make a lovely little cracker. But it can all be a nightmare our gf ride the birds have eaten well over the years ha ha ha thank you for reply that was nice tho good luck in your adventures a sowerby
On Mon, 8 Aug 2022, 18:11 My Virtually Free-from Kitchen, < comment-reply@wordpress.com> wrote:
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Thanks again Anthony 😊
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Welsh cakes are great. Have you tried almond and cherry
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Hi there. Funny you should mention cherries and almond, I was swithering between a classic and an alternative flavour when I wrote this post, and in the end I went for the classic. I love cherries too especially with a hint of almond extract. Delicious. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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Hello Kathryn, I have made the scones! After looking up what ingredients make up Dove’s farm gluten-free flour, I decided to use a mix of rice flour, cassava flour, buckwheat flour, potato starch and almond meal. I added cranberries instead of currants (because of my husband’s intolerance to sulfites). Now, maybe because of the almond in my mix, or simply because I was busy making something else and not as watchful as I should have been, the scones burned on the first side after barely 4 minutes. Oops. I flipped them over, cooked them just a little longer, and we scraped off the charred part before having them with tea. They were crumbly (are yours?) but very good! No clotted cream in our house, so I had my share of the scones with coconut cream to which I added a little lemon juice (tasted more dairy that way).
I will definitely make them again, Kathryn, so thank you! May I ask you for your input? Should I use coconut flour rather than almond meal? Should I add a little chia to bind the dough?
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Hi there. Thank for the feedback and interesting to hear your comments. It is quite easy to burn the cakes. I guess I’m quite expert at it now, so I know how much heat I can get away with. I will amend the recipe to say “low” heat which should help with the cooking. I’ve just had look at the Doves Farm blend and the missing link to the texture difference could be the maize flour (cornfour). As much as I love ground almonds they are not starchy and therefore will alter the texture of a mixture.
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Sorry, I pressed the wrong button! You also asked about coconut flour. Again I think this will give a drier texture but it would give a lovely flavour. You will need to add more yogurt or milk as coconut flour absorbs so much more liquid than other flours. Because currants are tiny, if you chop the dried cranberries into smaller pieces, this will also help keep everything together when you eat them.
You also ask about chia to bind. This may work ok as original recipes often include an egg to bind the ingredients together. This is something I haven’t tried.
I’m so glad you got in touch again. It really helps fine tune details for my posts. Thank you so much for taking the time to try the recipe. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Kathryn 🙂
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Thank you!
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Thank you Kathryn 😊
It is raining fine rain over here and looking at your scones got us both nostalgic of Britain! In spite of several trips and one long stay in England in the autumn (with Brussels sprouts in the menu almost every day, the poor man has never been the same since 😄) my husband has never tasted them, do you believe it? I will be making them tomorrow, improvising the flour mix, and hopefully they will taste as good as yours…
By the way, I haven’t found any more organic green asparagus in the stores I go to. The season must be over for us. I am disappointed, I so wanted to try your last recipe. Bookmarking it for next year.
Have a good weekend.
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Hello Joëlle. I hope the rain was sufficient enough to do some good. It’s been another fine and sunny one here. I’m just back indoors after doing some watering. I hope you both enjoy the griddle cakes. Let me know what flour you use instead. I must update the recipe as I just realised that I forgot to mention that the recipe works just the same with traditional wheat flour.
That’s a shame that the asparagus season is over for another year. Perhaps some fine green beans or fresh peas would a nice topping when they are in season? I’m going to be enjoying another bunch of British asparagus tonight for supper; I feel the opportunities are limited for another year. All the best for a good weekend. Kind regards, Kathryn 🙂
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