Welsh Food as a Connection to the Land - Traditional Bara Brith Recipe

Food as Connection 

What I love most about traditional Welsh food is how deeply it connects us — to the land, to our ancestors, to one another. 

These aren’t just recipes. 

They’re ways of remembering who we are. Even now, I’ll often find myself baking bara brith when I miss my family, or making cawl when the world feels heavy. 

It’s a way of grounding, of coming back to myself — and to Wales. 

Please scroll down for a dairy free recipe for Bara Brith.

So whether you’re in Cardiff, Wrexham, Canada, Carmarthen or Australia, you can stir that pot, heat up the griddle, and feel the same thing: a quiet thread of belonging, passed from hand to hand, kitchen to kitchen.

Cawl, Bara Brith & Welsh Cakes: The Comfort of Traditional Welsh Food

There’s something about the smell of cawl bubbling on the stove or the taste of a still-warm Welsh cake dusted with sugar that takes you straight back home — even if you’re thousands of miles away.

As a Welsh woman, food has always been a way to feel grounded in who I am. These dishes aren’t just meals; they’re memory, community, and comfort wrapped into every bite. 

Whether you were raised in the Clwydian Hills, South Wales valleys, along the coast the flavours of traditional Welsh food have a way of calling you back.

Welsh Cakes: Small, Sweet, and Full of Heart

If there's one food that brings instant comfort, it's the Welsh cake. 

Cooked on a griddle (or bakestone), these little flat cakes are somewhere between a scone and a biscuit — packed with currants or sultanas, lightly spiced, and always made with love.

They're the kind of thing you bake in big batches and hand out to neighbours, bring to school events, or carry in a tin on long car journeys. For many Welsh people living abroad, Welsh cakes are the first thing we learn to bake again — a taste of home in every crumb.

Traditional Welsh cakes - A taste of home.

Bara Brith: Speckled Bread with a Story

Literally meaning "speckled bread", bara brith is Wales in loaf form. With dried fruit soaked in tea, warm spices, and a touch of sweetness, it’s the kind of treat that goes beautifully with a cuppa and a catch-up.

Every family seems to have a version — some lighter, some heavier, some served with butter, some without. But however it’s made, it’s always served with a story. 

A reminder of teatimes with Nain and Taid, chapel socials, and the kind of slow baking that fills the house with warmth.

Cawl: A Bowl Full of History

Cawl can be said to be Wales’ national dish and the ultimate winter warmer. 

Traditionally made with lamb or beef, root vegetables, leeks (of course), and seasoned slowly over hours, cawl isn’t fancy — and that’s exactly its beauty.

It’s food that stretches. Food that feeds a family. Food that reminds you of your Mamgu’s kitchen and cold days by the fire.

In many households, recipes are handed down, never written, and vary from region to region — a perfect example of how Welsh tradition lives in real, everyday ways.

Scroll down for the recipe...

Bara Brith traditional Welsh recipe with a plant based twist

Bara Brith is an easy to make traditional Welsh tea loaf: This is a dairy free version for those of you enjoying a plant based lifestyle.

Here are the Ingredients:

• Dried Mixed Fruit: 200g (e.g., raisins, sultanas, currants) Aldi do an affordable pack of mixed dried fruit as do Home Bargains.

• Brown Sugar: 150g​ You can also use date sugar or coconut sugar if you prefer.

• Strong Black Tea: 150ml (brewed and cooled) if you are going proper traditional you could use Murroughs Paned Welsh Brew (pic below)​

• Self-Raising Flour: 200g gluten free or normal it is up to you.​

• Apple Sauce or Puree: 125g (acts as an egg substitute)​

• Ground Flaxseed: 1 tablespoon, great for fibre, has omega 3, lowers cholesterol.​

• Baking Powder: ½ teaspoon because it helps the loaf rise.

Instructions:

1. Soak the Fruit: Combine the dried mixed fruit and brown sugar in a bowl. Pour over the cooled tea, stir, cover, and let soak for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.​ It is up to you how strong you make the tea, the stronger the tea the darker the loaf. You could try using earl grey tea for a more delicate flavour, or something smokey like Lapsang Souchong. There is no harm in mixing it up a bit.

2. Prepare the Oven and Tin: Preheat the oven to 150°C (fan) or 170°C for a normal overn or gas mark 3 if you are lucky enough to have a gas oven. 

3. Line a 1lb loaf tin with baking paper.

4. Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, ground flaxseed, and baking powder.​

5. Combine Ingredients: Stir the apple sauce into the soaked fruit mixture. Gradually fold in the dry ingredients until well combined.​

6. Bake: Pour the mix into the loaf tin, smoothing the top. 

7. Bake for around1 hour, or until a skewer (I use a chop stick) is inserted into the middle of the loaf and comes out clean. If it has mixture on it put it back in the over for an other 5, 10 or 15 minutes. Mind that the top of the loaf does not burn.​

8. Cool and Serve: Allow the Bara Brith to cool in the tin before transferring to a wire rack. Slice and enjoy on its own or with a spread of dairy-free butter.

9. I can never let a bara brith totally cool down before I try a slice with a lovely cuppa.

10. Enjoy and share with family and friends.