A soft, moist, shallow 'plate cake' of currants, mixed spice and brown sugar, baked flat and kept deliberately damp and sticky. A traditional Welsh bakestone cake, distinct from the loaf-shaped bara brith.
Teisen lap, meaning 'plate cake' in Welsh, is a traditional shallow fruit cake of Wales, baked flat in a plate or tin rather than in a loaf, and kept deliberately moist and sticky, hence 'lap', meaning moist or damp. The cake belongs to the old Welsh tradition of bakestone cookery, where fruit cakes and breads were cooked on a flat iron or stone over the fire, a method that long predates domestic ovens in rural Wales. Unlike the more famous bara brith, which is a yeasted or tea-soaked fruit loaf, teisen lap is a denser, moister, spiced cake studded with currants, its texture closer to a soft parkin or a damp fruit square than a sliceable loaf. It was a farmhouse and chapel-tea cake, made with the storecupboard staples of flour, brown sugar, lard or butter, dried fruit and mixed spice, and eaten with a cup of tea. The cake keeps well, the moisture improving over a few days, and it remains a specialty of Welsh home baking and of tearooms in the Welsh-speaking north and west.
A dense, damp, dark square, sticky with brown sugar and full of currants, warmly spiced, the crumb so moist it is almost fudgy. Eaten in small squares with a cup of tea, better after a day or two.
Teisen lap is engineered for moisture. The cake uses a high proportion of brown sugar and dried fruit to liquid and flour, so the crumb stays damp and sticky rather than drying out, and a generous amount of mixed spice gives its warm character. The fat is traditionally lard, which keeps the cake soft, though butter is now common. The batter is loose, almost a thick paste, and is baked in a shallow tin or plate to a depth of only 2 to 3cm, the shallow shape ensuring the dense, wet batter cooks through without the outside burning before the inside sets. A moderate oven, around 170 degrees C, and a bake of 40 to 50 minutes sets the cake while retaining its moisture. Crucially, the cake is wrapped and stored after baking, the moisture redistributing so that by the next day it is even damper and stickier, this is a cake meant to be made ahead. The dense, fruit-heavy texture is what distinguishes it from a lighter sponge or the bara brith loaf.
Variations
Some recipes add a splash of warm tea to the batter for extra moisture and colour. Walnuts or marmalade are folded through. The cake is sometimes iced with a thin water icing once cold.
On the Palate
Where Teisen Lap sits in the British flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
6 steps · 15 min
- 13 min
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C; grease and line a shallow 20cm round or square tin.
- 24 min
Melt 150g butter or lard with 200g brown sugar and 3 tbsp warm tea; cool slightly.
- 34 min
Sift 300g self-raising flour with 1 tsp mixed spice and a pinch of salt; beat 2 eggs into the cooled melted mixture.
- 45 min
Fold the flour into the wet mix, then stir in 250g currants and a tablespoon of marmalade if liked, to a soft dropping consistency.
Watch outFold to a soft dropping batter, loose and almost paste-like — that high moisture is what keeps the crumb damp and sticky instead of dry.
- 56 min
Spread the batter into the shallow tin, level the top, and bake for 40 to 50 minutes until just set and golden.
Watch outBake in a shallow layer only 2 to 3 cm deep — the dense wet batter must be thin so it cooks through before the outside burns.
- 65 min
Cool in the tin, then wrap in parchment and store for at least a day before cutting into squares; serve with tea.
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