Description
Rock cakes bring British baking nostalgia to your kitchen with simple pantry ingredients. Crumbly, sweet, and perfectly rustic, these traditional treats offer a delightful connection to homemade comfort you’ll savor with every bite.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients:
- 225 grams (8 ounces) self-raising flour
- 125 grams (4.4 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed
- 150 grams (5.3 ounces) mixed dried fruit
Sweeteners and Binding:
- 75 grams (2.6 ounces) caster sugar
- 1 free-range egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
Leavening and Flavoring:
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare the oven at 180°C (160°C fan) / Gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, and baking powder to ensure even distribution.
- Cut cold butter into small cubes and incorporate into dry ingredients using fingertips, creating a crumbly texture similar to coarse breadcrumbs.
- Gently fold dried fruit into the crumbly mixture, ensuring even spread throughout.
- Whisk egg, milk, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl until well combined.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry mixture, stirring minimally to create a rough, lumpy dough without overmixing.
- Using a spoon, drop uneven mounds of dough onto prepared baking tray, leaving space between each cake.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, watching for a golden-brown exterior and slightly crisp edges.
- Remove from oven and allow cakes to rest on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to prevent soggy bottoms.
Notes
- Experiment with different dried fruits like cranberries, apricots, or mixed peel to add unique flavor profiles and textures to your rock cakes.
- Ensure butter is cold and cut into small cubes for the perfect crumbly texture that gives rock cakes their signature rustic appearance.
- For a gluten-free version, substitute regular flour with a high-quality gluten-free flour blend and add a pinch of xanthan gum to improve binding.
- Dust the cooled rock cakes with powdered sugar or drizzle with a light lemon glaze to elevate their simple, homey charm and add a touch of sweetness.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Snacks, Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 165 kcal
- Sugar: 9 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 35 mg