Welsh Onion Cake

Today’s recipe for Welsh Onion Cake is a traditional Welsh recipe, where the humble potato takes centre stage along with onions and butter.

RECIPE at the END OF THE POST

A Traditional Welsh Recipe

Today’s recipe for Welsh Onion Cake is a traditional Welsh recipe, where the humble potato takes centre stage along with onions and butter.

Welsh Onion Cake, or “teisen winwns” and “teisen nionod”, as it is known in Wales, is classic comfort food that is cheap and easy to make. (If you live in North Wales, where I live, you may know this recipe as “cacon nionod”)

It’s a simple recipe of layered potatoes and onions, with butter, that is baked in a cake tin, or an enamel pie tin, until it is soft, sticky and golden.

It’s usually made as an accompaniment, for sausages, roast meat or roast chicken, but is equally delicious when served as a main meal with salad leaves or even crusty bread.

There are many versions in Wales, some have herbs in them, such as rosemary, parsley or sage, and some also add cheese, usually Caerphilly cheese, to the layers of potatoes and onions.

A Welsh Onion cake falls into the genre of baked potato dishes, that are popular all over the world; such as Pommes Anna in France, and that other French dish of Gratin Dauphinoise, as well as Scalloped Potatoes, the creamy version which is popular in the States.

I expect this recipe was borne of frugality when times were hard, and potatoes and onions were readily available. The butter is a fairly luxurious, and probably modern addition. I am sure housewives in the past would have used dripping in place of butter, or even some stock.

For a recipe with just three ingredients and seasoning, it’s super tasty and very filling too. I made my last Welsh Onion Cake for lunch, and we enjoyed it between the four of us with salad as a main meal.

But, it makes a fabulous side dish for any roast meat or chicken, and once all the slicing has been done and the cake has been layered in the cooking dish, it gently cooks away in the oven for an hour and a half, with no need to baste or turn over etc. So, it is a very forgiving recipe!

Substitutions and Cooking Tips

• Use any baking potatoes such as Maris Piper or Desiree.
• Make sure the potatoes are sliced very thinly, so they cook evenly.
• Add chopped fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary, sage or parsley between the layers.
• Add grated cheese for a richer version between each layer.
• Add chopped chives or wild garlic when they are in season, for an extra onion taste.
• Make this vegan by omitting the butter and using a plant based spread that is suitable for baking. Or, use vegetable stock in place of any fat or oil.

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• Glamorgan Sausages (Selsig Morgannwg)
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Recipe for Welsh Onion Cake