Lye-treated? Like in soap? I don't think I needed to know that. "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."

More from the family archives:


Cacen Gri / Welsh Cakes

These come under various names throughout Wales; another is 'Pice Bach' (little cakes - probably from 'pikelets'?). This recipe was given to my mother by an old lady from Anglesey.

2 cups of flour
1/2 lb of butter
3/4 cup of sugar (white)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup of currants
2 eggs beaten (sometimes less, depends on size of eggs)

Blend flour and butter. Add sugar, salt, baking powder and currants. Add beaten eggs & a little milk if needed. Roll out (usually as thin as currants will allow) and cut in rounds. Bake on an UNGREASED griddle until brown on both sides. (I know when to turn them as the top goes from 'shiny' to 'dull'.)

A 'must have' on St David's Day, March 1st.


Snowdrops

Very elegant and the easiest of all cookies to make.

2 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup white sugar (castor/fruit sugar)
1 package of chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup broken walnuts

Combine egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in bowl. Beat until foamy. Add sugar, 2 tbls. at a time; beat after each addition until sugar is all blended. Continue beating to stiff peaks. Fold in chipits, vanilla and nuts. Drop from tsp. onto baking parchment or ungreased brown paper. Bake at 300 F 25 minutes. Remove from paper while still warm.

Variations: I tend to use slivered almonds instead of walnuts. Once, I used pecans, and coated the bottom of the cookies with dark chocolate after they'd come out of the oven. Nice. I've recently seen the identical recipe, but with chopped candied fruit; the French apparently call them Nuns' Farts. I make no comment further.


Chocolate Pecan Squares

Pastry:
175 g butter
50 g caster sugar
1 egg
320 g plain flour, sifted

Topping:
200 g chocolate
100 g muscovado sugar
50 g golden syrup
150 g butter
4 eggs, beaten
200 g pecan nuts

To make the pastry, cream the butter & sugar together until light and smooth, then beat in the egg. Add the flour and form a smooth pastry dough. Chill.

Prehat the oven to 180 C / 350 F. Cover the bottom of a 20 X 25 cm swiss roll tin with the pastry. (I think I'll be using a slightly larger pan next time.)

To make the topping, place the chocolate, sugar, golden syrup and butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted. (Or you could nuke it in the microwave.) Leave the mixture to cool a little then stir in the eggs and half the pecans, broken up. Pour over the pastry and distribute the rest of the pecans (unbroken) over the top. Bake for 25 - 30 mins, until set.

Leave to cool in the tin and then cut into bars. Store the bars in an airtight container and hide if you don't want them to disappear by sunset.


Rocky Roads

A few years ago, my cooking friends here in Wales were frustrated when mini marshmallows appeared in the supermarkets.   They didn't know what to do with them other than put them on hot chocolate. They didn't know about Rocky Roads ...

Melt over low heat:

1/2 cup butter

Add and melt:
10 oz/300g. dark chocolate
1 cup icing sugar
1 beaten egg

Cool slightly. Add:

2 cups flaked coconut
2 cups mini marshmallows (coloured ones) - reserve a few for top decoration

Line an 7 X 10.5 pan with whole graham wafers (N. Am) or a thin-ish oblong biscuit like 'Sport' or the malted biscuits like you get in Tesco - the ones with a cow stamped on them.

Spread the choc/marshmallow mixture on top of the biscuit(s) and chill. Cut in squares. This freezes well.

And, in our family, we always add the following when sharing the recipe: From Kay Varden, to Peg Varden, to Pat Thomas, to Sian Thomas, to Mudcat.

sian