Recipe: Welsh griddle cakes, perfected in a B&B on Haida Gwaii
Poet and author Susan Musgrave writes cookbook celebrating Haida Gwaii's food and people
Poet and author Susan Musgrave was around 60 years old when she bought the Copper Beech House, a popular bed and breakfast on Haida Gwaii that has hosted writers, politicians and adventurers for decades.
"Most people are retiring then, when I buy a business, not knowing anything about business," Musgrave told North by Northwest host Sheryl MacKay.
"Have I ever learned," she laughed.
In her bed and breakfast Musgrave has perfected a number of recipes over the years, including one for Welsh griddle cakes that was described by one guest as "the best Welsh cakes made outside of my gran's kitchen."
Musgrave has compiled those recipes in her new cookbook: A Taste of Haida Gwaii: Food Gathering and Feasting at the Edge of the World.
The cookbook is filled not just with mouthwatering recipes, but also with stories about the ingredients found on the archipelago and the interesting characters that live there.
"My friends in Toronto said, 'It's a Bible, it's the Haida Gwaii-ble," she said.
Musgrave shared her recipe for Welsh cakes with North by Northwest:
Welsh griddle cakes
Ingredients:
- 3 cups (700 mL) all-purpose flour
- 1 1⁄2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder
- 1⁄2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
- 1⁄4 tsp (1 mL) salt
- 1 scant cup (240 mL) sugar
- 1 tsp (5 mL) freshly ground nutmeg
- 1⁄4 tsp (1 mL) ground mace
- 1 cup (240 mL) butter
- 3⁄4 cup (180 mL) currants
- 1⁄4 cup (60 mL) candied peel, finely chopped
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 6 Tbsp (90 mL) milk
Method:
1. Sift dry ingredients together.
2. Cut in butter until the texture of fine crumbs is formed.
3. Add currants, peel, eggs and milk; mix to a stiff dough.
4. Roll out to 1⁄4 inch (6 mm) thickness. Try to handle the dough as little as possible and cut out in 2 inch (5 cm) rounds with a fluted cookie cutter. (The landlady at the MacKenzie House B&B in Fort Macleod made a batch of Welsh cakes for me when I arrived. She insisted the traditional shaped cookiecutter was fluted, but I don't think anyone is going to hold it against you if you use a less traditional shape!)
5. Cook on low heat on a lightly greased preheated griddle, cast iron or electric frying pan set at 250°F(120°C). Cook 4 minutes per side until golden brown.
6. Serve hot, by themselves, or with butter, jam or cheese. Serve them cold, cookie-style, after flavours have mellowed. Toast them, and then sprinkle with icing or berry sugar.
Tip: I have seen some recipes for Welsh cakes that use half lard/half butter. My grandmother used bacon fat in all her baking rock cakes, scones, even in the loaves of white bread she baked every day. I think this is what made her baked goods so tender and flaky. They never tasted of bacon, either.
With files from CBC's North by Northwest
To hear the full story listen to the audio labelled: Poet and author Susan Musgrave writes cookbook celebrating Haida Gwaii's food and people