A spirit-soaked Welsh fruitcake preserved in the Patagonian Welsh-tea-house tradition of Gaiman, Chubut, since the Welsh settlement of 1865. Dense, dark, boozy, it keeps for weeks.
Torta negra galesa is the signature sweet of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia. In 1865 a group of Welsh settlers landed in the Chubut valley, founding towns like Gaiman and Trelew, and they brought their tea-house tradition with them. The torta negra, a dense dark fruitcake soaked in whisky or rum, is the centrepiece of the Welsh tea service that survives in Gaiman's tea houses to this day. Made with dried fruit, nuts, brown sugar, butter, spices and a generous measure of spirit, the cake is wrapped and rested for days or weeks, the spirit permeating and the texture settling into a dense, sliceable, deeply boozy cake. Served in thin slices with tea, it is the sweet emblem of the Welsh-Argentine community.
A dense, dark, deeply boozy slice packed with fruit and nuts, the spirit warm on the tongue, the spice and brown sugar rich beneath. Better after a week than a day, and infinitely better with a strong cup of tea.
The cake is built on spirit and time. Dried fruit is soaked in whisky or rum overnight, then folded into a butter-brown-sugar-egg batter with flour, nuts and mixed spice. The cake is baked low and slow, around 150 degrees C, for about 90 minutes, then while still warm it is wrapped in parchment and foil and rested for days, ideally a week. During the rest, the spirit redistributes through the cake, the fruit softens, and the texture settles from crumbly-fresh to dense and sliceable. The cake is periodically unwrapped and fed with more spirit, like a Christmas cake. The long rest and the spirit act as preservatives, and the cake keeps for weeks at room temperature.
Variations
Some versions use rum instead of whisky. A lighter version with less fruit is sold in bakeries. The tea houses of Gaiman each guard their own recipe.
On the Palate
Where Torta Negra Galesa sits in the Argentinian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12
How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 14 min
Soak 300g mixed dried fruit and 100g chopped walnuts in 150ml whisky or rum overnight.
Watch outSoak the dried fruit and walnuts in the spirit overnight — this plumps the fruit and carries the boozy flavor deep; skip it and the cake bakes up dry and harsh.
- 25 min
Cream 200g butter with 200g brown sugar; beat in 4 eggs one at a time.
- 36 min
Fold in 300g flour with 1 tsp mixed spice and a pinch of salt; fold in the soaked fruit and nuts with their liquid.
- 48 min
Pour into a lined 20cm round tin; bake at 150 degrees C for 1 hour 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
Watch outBake low and slow at 150°C until a skewer comes out clean, about ninety minutes — a hot oven scorches the sugar-heavy batter outside before the dense middle sets.
- 54 min
While warm, brush with 3 more tbsp whisky; wrap in parchment and foil.
- 64 min
Rest at least 3 days, ideally a week, before slicing thin and serving with tea.
Watch outBrush with more spirit while warm, wrap tight, and rest at least three days — the resting is where the spirit redistributes and the crumb settles from crumbly to dense and sliceable.
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