Banfora, Perfect Pineapple Welsh Cakes of Burkina Faso

In my quest for bakes from every country I come across some interesting and unique ones now and then. This is one of them.

Could not find much of concrete history about it but apparently Welsh cakes are a popular snack in Burkina Faso which is a Western African country. This version contains dried pineapple, so that is how you distinguish them.

And I have to say these banfora were amazing. Light like a shortbread biscuit, crumbly, flaky, sweet, and moist. The pineapple pieces and cinnamon sugar dusting go so well together.

They are super easy to make. You could mix and cook them in less than 30 minutes. The only challenging part is the cooking as they become quite fragile once they have spent some time in the pan. When flipping them be extra careful. Patience is key.

For those who do not want to risk it you can cook them in the oven. 150C (300F) fan off for 30 minutes. They will still be nice but fried in a pan with butter is really the way to go.

If you do not like pineapple, then replace it with any other dried fruit.

This recipe makes 12 banfora. Multiply the amount of ingredients to make more.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the dough –

60g (2.1oz) dried pineapple, diced

250g (8.8oz) white flour

6g (0.2oz) baking powder

125g (4.4oz) cold butter, cubed

1 egg, around 50g (1.75oz)

2g (0.07oz) salt

100g (3.5oz) sugar

For the cinnamon sugar dusting –

50g (1.75oz) sugar

3g (0.1oz) cinnamon

To cook –

Vegetable oil

Butter

Method

1. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Mix well to distribute the ingredients evenly.
2. Add the butter and rub it together with the flour until a fine crumbly texture is achieved. This will take around 3 minutes.
3. Add the pineapple and mix to coat with the flour.
4. Add the egg and mix to a dough.
5. Tip the dough out on your table and press it together. Do no knead it. Gluten is the enemy here. You can give the dough a few folds. Once it is nice and uniform you can start rolling.
6. Dust the table and the dough with flour generously. Press the dough out by hand. Continue with a rolling pin. Roll it until it is about 1.5cm (0.6in) thick. Smooth out the edge using your dough scraper. Roll it once again to smooth out the surface.
7. Cut it to size. You can use any size cutter you like. Bear in mind that a larger banfora will be more difficult to flip in the pan.
8. In a pan on medium-low heat add a splash of vegetable oil and a knob of butter. Leave to foam up. Place the banfoa in your pan leaving gaps between them.
9. Cook for 6 minutes. Flip them carefully. It is easy to squish the nearby banfora whilst flipping another one. Move them around if need be.
10. Once flipped keep cooking for another 6 minutes or until golden brown all over. After the second side has cooked for a while, they will become much easier to handle.
11. Sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar as soon as they come out the pan.
12. Leave to cool down for 20 minutes. Shake off the excess sugar and serve up.

Check out some more Baking World Tour videos while you are enjoying your delicious Burkina Faso Welsh cakes.