Savoury Welsh Cakes for Babies and Toddlers

Why on earth did I not think of this before?  A welsh cake is a bit like a scone but cooked on a frying pan (well traditionally it would have been cooked on a griddle but that confuses people because I don't mean a ridged griddle pan, a griddle is flat without sides.  My mum is the only person I know who has one.)  I suspect they could be cooked directly onto an Aga plate but I don't have one and I suspect very few of my readers have an Aga either.

Welsh cakes are normally made with sultanas and sugar but there's no real reason why not to use the inspiration for a savoury snack.  Also they're quick to make and as in this case, I've used an ingredient which would normally be discarded so they can be pretty thrifty too, especially as you're cooking on a hob and so not using all that energy to heat up an oven.

If you use a small cutter, you can get loads.  I used a diamond shaped cutter which was probably approx 3 cm (1.25 inches) long which also has the benefit of being able to cut closer together without waste (unlike a round cutter).

Anyone who is offended at my use of the term 'welsh cake' for something which is clearly a way removed from the traditional recipe; I do apologise and I would also like to point out the use of red, white and green in the ingredients ;o)

I think this has potential for more savoury and sweet options.  I will experiment and let you know...

Savoury Broccoli and Red Onion Welsh Cakes for Babies and Toddlers makes 30+ depending on the size of your cutter

Ingredients

1 small red onion, finely chopped
60g broccoli stalk, grated
Spray oil or additional oil or butter
225g (8oz) SR flour
75g (3oz) unsalted butter
75g (3oz) mature cheddar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp full fat greek yoghurt
1 egg
A few sprigs of parsley

Method

Fry the onion and grated broccoli in the spray oil or butter until softened.  Allow to cool.

Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the onion and broccoli, cheese and chopped parsley and mix.  Add in the mustard, yoghurt and egg and bring together into a dough.  Roll out on a floured surface until just over half a cm thick (quarter of an inch).  Heat a non stick pan on a hob and then cut the dough into pieces.  For babies just getting used to finger foods, it might be a good idea to cut into sticks.

Cook a few 'cakes' in the pan at a time at a medium to low heat until they have formed a good crust on one side (takes a couple of minutes) and turn over.  You'll find they will puff up a little when they cook, check they're fully cooked.  Turn out onto a plate and continue cooking the remainder.

Serve the same day (allow to cool a little until safe but great when still warm) or freeze then defrost from frozen in a microwave.

Obviously keep an eye on salt content if giving to a young baby but if you consider that I made 36 I think and still had a little dough left over, the amount of sodium from the raising agent in the flour and the cheese will be pretty low per 'cake'.

I'm definitely going to have a go at sugar free sweet welsh cakes so I'll keep you posted.