- 225g/8oz self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- pinch of salt
- 85g/3oz caster sugar
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 115g/4oz butter
- 85g/3oz sultanas
- 1 large free-range egg, beaten
- milk if needed
- lard, for greasing
- 175g/6oz free-range egg yolks
- 90g/3½oz caster sugar
- 375ml/13fl oz whipping cream
- 125ml/4fl oz milk
- 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out
- ground cinnamon
- freshly grated nutmeg
- 12 apricots, halved and stoned
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- knob of unsalted butter
- First make the Welsh cakes. Sift the flour, mixed spice and salt into a bowl and stir in the sugar and lemon zest. Rub in the butter until the mixture has a crumb-like texture. Add the sultanas and mix together, then mix in the beaten egg using a fork. Gather into a dough. If too dry add a dash of milk.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and roll out to about 5mm/¼in thick. Using a large side plate or a 10cm/4in round plain cutter, cut out four rounds. You also need to cut out four 2cm/1in rounds. Cut the remaining dough into rounds or other shapes of any size, re-rolling the trimmings as necessary (these cakes will be used for the ice cream).
- Lightly grease a griddle with lard, then heat on a low heat. Start with a cake or two for the ice cream to test the heat of the griddle. Lightly cook all the cakes for 20-30 seconds on each side or until golden brown. Leave to cool.
- To make the ice cream, beat together the eggs and sugar in a bowl until pale. Put the cream and milk in a saucepan and scrape in the seeds from the vanilla pod together with the pod. Heat until it just comes to the boil, then pour a little over the egg mixture and whisk together.
- Pour this mixture into the rest of the hot cream mixture in the pan and cook, stirring, until thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Take care not to let the custard boil. Remove from the pan and cool over ice, then strain.
- Churn the custard in an ice cream machine. Just as it is ready, sprinkle in 300g/10½oz of crumbled Welsh cakes and finish with ground cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. Transfer to a container and freeze for about two hours to harden.
- For the apricots, cook the apricots with the sugar and butter until soft.
- To serve, spoon the warm apricots on top of the large Welsh cakes. Add a scoop of ice cream to each plate and garnish each with a small Welsh cake.