Welsh Shearing Cake (Cacen Gneifo)

Serves	8 to 10 slices
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	1 hour, 15 minutes
Total time	1 hour, 35 minutes
Allergy	Egg, Milk, Wheat
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Dessert, Snack
Misc	Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Occasion	Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter
Region	British
By author	Karen Burns-Booth

Welsh Shearing Cake (Cacen Gneifo) A traditional recipe for a Welsh seed cake, and one that would have been served to the sheep shearers during shearing season. This buttery cake would have originally used bacon fat in place of butter, although the caraway seeds and peel are authentic to older country recipes.

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour
180g unsalted butter (softened)
150g caster sugar
3 free-range eggs (beaten with 2 tablespoons buttermilk or skimmed milk)
100g chopped candied peel
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
extra buttermilk or skimmed milk if needed

Note

Directions

Step 1	Line and grease a round cake tin, 8"/20cm in diameter; pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4.
Step 2	In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until it is light, fluffy and pale yellow in colour - a wooden spoon is best if you need a workout, or for ease, use a hand held mixer.
Step 3	Add the beaten eggs and milk along with the flour, spoon by spoon, using a metal spoon now, gently mixing it into the butter and sugar mixture until combined; continue until the egg mixture and flour has all be used.
Step 4	Add the mixed candied peel and the caraway seeds, and mix - if the mixture is too stiff, add a little buttermilk or skimmed milk to the cake batter, you want a soft batter.
Step 5	Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin , level the surface and bake in the pre-heated oven for between 1 to 1 1/4 hrs, or, until the cake is well risen, golden brown and is firm to the touch. (To double check, insert a skewer into the middle of the cake, it should come out clean of the cake is cooked)
Step 6	Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack; leave to cool completely. Serve the cake in wedges and store any uneaten cake in a covered tin for up to a week.