Rock Cakes

Rock cakes were a very traditional part of afternoon tea when I was young, although without the spices that were added in Delia’s version. That old, 1950s/60s version would have used no spice, and white caster sugar, with a little demerara sugar sprinkled on top; and, very probably, self-raising flour. These are quite sweet, so butter/jam is optional - we always ate them plain, anyway.

Ingredients

• 350g plain flour
• 0.25 tsp salt
• 2 level tsp baking powder
• 175g golden caster sugar (Delia uses light brown sugar)
• 0.25 tsp grated nutmeg
• 0.5 tsp mixed spice
• 175g unsalted butter
• 125g mixed dried fruit: or just currants/raisins/sultanas
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 - 2 tbs milk (if needed)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, and spices. If you can, sift in the sugar as well, but it won’t pass through a very fine sieve, in which case break up the lumps and stir it in. Rub in the butter to reach the texture of fine breadcrumbs. A trick to sieve, break up lumps, and rub in the butter at the same time is to use a food processor or blender for just a few seconds. Stir in the fruit. Now mix in the beaten egg to form a dough; add the milk if required. This is easiest to do using just a fork, rather then fingers. The correct texture to reach is when the crumbs increase in size, and if you squeeze together a handful they will form a lump, which will just barely not fall apart. This is a lot drier than you might expect.

Make into 10 - 12 loose heaps on a greased baking sheet, and bake for 18 - 20 minutes.

Note

Afternoon tea. When I was young, we always had the same for Sunday tea. Sardines on toast fingers (mashed with a little vinegar), scotch pancakes cooked on a griddle (aka drop scones) with butter, homemade jam tarts, rock cakes, a Victoria sponge (sometimes), and gingerbread - the tray bake variety. Usually with sandwiches of whatever roast we had had for lunch, or cheese and tomato.