This is a very tasty recipe for Welsh rarebit – not Welsh rabbit, which is a very popular mistake when talking about the recipe but is sort of related. You see there’s a myth in that apparently cheese used to be way more cheaper than rabbit so people developed a poorer version of a popular dish by using cheese instead and Welsh rarebit was born, there’s even suggestions from the cheese professor that it may not even be Welsh! What I can tell you though, as a half Welsh person, it’s a very yummy upgrade on cheese on toast with a tangy, slightly hot (if you wish) roux topping, that bubbles and creates pockets for extra Worcestershire sauce or seasonings, it’s very, very nice indeedy! Hope you try it out, I think the toaster was my favourite method to be honest as the topping stayed on top and didn’t soak in the grill / broiler method, so although I did the air fryer one (180c) until done, oven is the method below.
How to make Welsh Rarebit
Get a saucepan and melt the butter until foaming over a low heat, stir in the flour and mix well to combine stirring often to thicken up, do this for a few minutes, keeping it moving. Whisk in the cayenne pepper and mustard powder for a final minute and remove from the heat. Pour in the cream whisking off the heat and the alcohol / apple juice if using whisking through to combine. Please note the cream is quite traditional, milk would also be fine.
Place back on the heat and warm stirring often until hot, turn the heat down to low, add in the cheese and whisk it through until the cheese is melted through and you are left with a lovely smooth mixture. Take off the heat and put your bread in the toaster.
Once the bread is toasted, spoon the topping onto the toast, as it cools it’ll form a small skin and set in place a bit so don’t overload it, just coat the edges. Repeat with other slices of toast, place under the grill / broiler until browned and bubbling. As it cools down use a knife / chopstick etc to make lines in the topping going in both directions (the video shows this well) this forms pockets for more flavour to sit on top of it. So sprinkle on some more Worcester sauce and a light dusting of cayenne if you wish. Super delicious and not a rabbit in sight!
