Demand for Welsh Cakes at The Village Bakery, near Wrexham, has soared after they were named Reserve Champion at the True Taste of Wales Awards, within the category for large producers for baked and confectionary products.

Now, up to 340,000 Welsh Cakes are being produced a week at the bakery’s headquarters in Minera, North Wales.

The original recipe was devised by employee Gwen Lloyd’s grandmother, Elizabeth Hughes, and has been passed down through the generations, being only slightly adapted to suit modern production methods. “My mam would cook them on a metal skillet and the smell was absolutely lovely,” said Lloyd. “It’s great that an old traditional recipe is still in use and that people buy them and enjoy eating them.”

Robin Jones, the Village Bakery’s joint managing director said: “It’s becoming one of our bestsellers. We’ve recently started supplying Welsh cakes for a major retailer, a national chain and we now sell Welsh Cakes all over the UK – in Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland.

“We use 100 per cent Welsh butter and Welsh milk and it proves again that our local sourcing policy is the right way to go,” he added.

The Village Bakery was named Craft Bakery of the Year for the third time at the Bakery Industry Awards this September.