Tan y Castell - Welshcakes - 6 Pack

Tan y Castell Welshcakes come in a pack of six traditional Welsh cakes, known in Welsh as pice ar y maen, made by the Pembrokeshire bakery of the same name. Welsh cakes are a griddle-cooked bake rather than an oven-baked one, sitting somewhere between a scone, a biscuit and a small pancake, and studded with dried fruit. Tan y Castell's version is a widely stocked, family made take on this traditional recipe, sold in packs across Wales and beyond.

The Tan y Castell bakery was started more than twenty years ago by Paul and Linda Mear, who began baking from their family farm at the foot of the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire. What began as a small farm operation has grown into a family run business based in Narberth, with bakery units across the West Wales Business Park employing well over a hundred local people. The company has scaled up significantly since its early days, now producing millions of Welsh cakes a year, while still supplying independent shops, farm shops and its own bakery outlet alongside major supermarkets. It remains a genuinely Welsh, family owned operation despite the scale of production.

In character, a Welsh cake is a dense, lightly spiced griddle cake made from a scone-like dough enriched with butter, sugar, currants or sultanas, and usually a touch of mixed spice or nutmeg. The dough is rolled out, cut into small rounds, and cooked on a bakestone or griddle rather than baked in an oven, which gives Welsh cakes their slightly crisp, lightly browned surface and soft, crumbly interior. Tan y Castell's cakes are made to be soft and moist, with a generous amount of vine fruit running through each one, and a light dusting of sugar on the outside. They are eaten at room temperature rather than warm from the oven, closer to a biscuit than a cake in that respect, though the texture is more tender than a typical biscuit.

Welsh cakes are traditionally eaten on their own with a cup of tea, and Tan y Castell's six pack is sized for exactly that: a quick snack or an accompaniment to a mid-morning or afternoon break. Some people like to split them and spread with butter while still slightly warm, which softens the fruit and brings out the spice, while others prefer them plain, straight from the pack. They also travel well, making them a popular choice for lunchboxes, picnics or as a small gift of Welsh produce for visitors to take home.

As one of the best known names in Welsh cake production, Tan y Castell offers a reliable, traditionally made version of a genuinely Welsh classic. The six pack format makes it an easy, unfussy addition to a bread or bakery order for anyone wanting a taste of Pembrokeshire baking alongside the rest of their shop.