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.
