Rock cake recipe

[soupyspoon]

Whats a good one

And why do these two that I found differ so much?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/rock_cakes_03094

https://lostinfood.co.uk/traditional-rock-cakes-rock-buns/

Im not a natural baker so I dont understand what impact the ratios would have

Watching w interest as I’d love to find a really good recipe too!

Shamelessly bumping my own thread here

I use the BBC recipe and I'm a novice and they come out lovely.

I use two eggs and cut down the sugar to 50gr as we found them too sweet when 75gr was used.
They come out nice with a bit of cinnamon added to the mix.😋

I like the BERO rock bun recipe, especially with a hint of mixed spice.

I like that they are a very basic economical cake to make a batch of, very popular during the rationing of WWII.
If you're new to baking the BERO cookery book is worth sending off for, as it's packed with recipes covering all the basic baking methods you'll need to get started, and it's not expensive.

I use the one from school, nearly 50 yrs ago!
6oz plain flour
pinch salt
1 egg
3oz sugar
3oz marge
1teasp baking powder
1-2tbsp milk
3oz mixed fruit or 3oz coconut

rub fat in to flour, add rest of dry ingredients, add milk and egg and bake at 475 for 15 mins

So equal fat to sugar ratio?

Ordered!

Happy baking soupyspoon 👍😁

Oh and just noticed a very low amount of flour compared to the amount of sugar and fat?

Compared to the recipes I posted anyway

This is what I dont know or understand the ratios in different recipes and what it means

I use the BBC recipe too, it’s very reliable and easy to adapt to different fruit and nut combinations, and flavourings. I half the vanilla, and add lemon zest and a little mixed spice, or ginger depending on the fruit I’m using. Ginger goes v well with apricot and walnut, for example.

I didn't know rock cakes were a real thing!
My mum used to make them when I was young. I assumed we just called them rock cakes because my mum is awful at cooking and they were always so hard you needed a hammer and chisel to eat them.

I'm going to have to give one of these recipes a try this week and find out how they were supposed taste.

@soupyspoon
You must try the Coffee Kisses, my favourites!

It's a handy book to have when baking with children, as the methods are explained clearly.

I use
2 eggs
4 oz each, butter, sugar and raisins
8 oz SR flour
Splash vanilla

Mine are a family favourite.

I'd always use a bbc recipe over a long food blog recipe.

We always use the Be-Ro recipe, adding a bit of mixed spice or cinnamon.

Rock buns are like a very rich scone to a certain extent, the ratio of fat to flour in a scone is usually 25%, in pastry it's 50% fat to flour. Rock buns are a bit of a cross between the two consistencies, 50% fat but with added sugar for sweetness, the addition of more liquid than you would use for pastry and it's milk with an egg unlike water for basic pastry. All this adds to the richness of the final result and the amount of sugar would be personal taste really, when you add dried fruit I feel you don't need as much sugar. Unlike scones they are not rolled out and shaped, more rustic looking but many places now make 'scones' from what is more correctly a rock bun recipe and you end up getting a very sweet, denser more calorific snack than a relatively harmless scone would have been!