The Rock Cake is a small British cake that became particularly popular during World War II due to its simplicity and limited use of sugar and eggs.
Also called rock bun, it has a rough surface resembling a rock and resembles cookies.
The buns were promoted by the British Ministry of Food during World War II because they required fewer eggs and less sugar than ordinary cakes, an important saving in a period of strict rationing.
Traditional recipes enriched them with oat flour, which was more readily available than white flour, just as I did using flour made from oat flakes.
Variants include the Jamaican rock cake, which is similar to the British one, but usually contains grated coconut.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economic
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 15 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven, Electric oven
- Cuisine: English
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 225 g gluten-free oat flour (or gluten-free oat flakes)
- 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
- 110 g butter
- to taste ground cinnamon
- to taste nutmeg
- 1 pinch salt
- 115 g dried fruit (raisins, currants, orange peel)
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk (or water)
- 55 g sugar (+ for decoration)
Steps
Preheat the oven to 356°F static (320°F fan).
In a large bowl, add the flour (if like me you want to use oat flakes: blend them finely), add the baking powder, salt, and spices.
Add the butter and rub with your fingertips until you get a mixture similar to fine breadcrumbs.
Incorporate the sugar and dried fruit.
The beaten egg and milk, mixing until a dense dough is formed.
With a spoon, form heaps of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving space between them.
Dust with granulated sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Let cool on a rack.
The Rock Cake in Popular Culture:
Author Agatha Christie mentions rock cakes in her stories and novels, including “Three Blind Mice and Other Stories” and “The Murder at the Vicarage“.
Author Agatha Christie mentions rock cakes in her stories and novels, including “Three Blind Mice and Other Stories” and “The Murder at the Vicarage“.
Detective Alan Grant is offered them in the novel “The Daughter of Time” by Josephine Tey.
They are also a common feature in the popular Harry Potter book and film series.
For example, Hagrid serves them to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley during tea in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone“.
Unfortunately, his rock “sweets” are so hard that they can break teeth, and they politely refuse them (along with other examples of his cooking) in subsequent stories.
Unfortunately, his rock “sweets” are so hard that they can break teeth, and they politely refuse them (along with other examples of his cooking) in subsequent stories.
At the beginning of “The African Queen“, Mr. Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) is offered a rock cake during tea.
At the beginning of “The African Queen“, Mr. Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) is offered a rock cake during tea.
The sweets are also mentioned in one of the early scenes of the 1939 film “Goodbye Mr. Chips“.
The sweets are also mentioned in one of the early scenes of the 1939 film “Goodbye Mr. Chips“.
And they are mentioned as an alternative to donuts in the 1940 British film “Night Train to Munich“.
And they are mentioned as an alternative to donuts in the 1940 British film “Night Train to Munich“.
In the song by Benny Hill “Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)”, Ernie is killed with a rock cake under the heart and a pork pie in the face.
In the song by Benny Hill “Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)”, Ernie is killed with a rock cake under the heart and a pork pie in the face.
In the British soap opera EastEnders, rock cakes are sold at the local bar. Tamwar Masood often eats them as an alternative to sweets.
In the British soap opera EastEnders, rock cakes are sold at the local bar. Tamwar Masood often eats them as an alternative to sweets.
In the British series “Allo ‘Allo!”, season 7, episode 10, rock cakes are used to feed British airmen trapped in the sewers under the village.
René Artois (Gorden Kaye) and his wife also give “rock cakes” to gypsies for information.
René Artois (Gorden Kaye) and his wife also give “rock cakes” to gypsies for information.
In the novel by Wodehouse “Sam The Sudden” (1925), Willoughby Braddock warns Kay Derrick against eating the rock cakes prepared by cook Clara Lippet, as they represent her worst outcome.
In the novel by Wodehouse “Sam The Sudden” (1925), Willoughby Braddock warns Kay Derrick against eating the rock cakes prepared by cook Clara Lippet, as they represent her worst outcome.
In the novel “Money in the Bank” (1942), the character J.G. Miller throws unwanted rock sweets into the opposite office; when he goes to that office to apologize, he meets Anne Benedick and her uncle Lord Uffenham, starting the novel’s plot.
In the novel “Money in the Bank” (1942), the character J.G. Miller throws unwanted rock sweets into the opposite office; when he goes to that office to apologize, he meets Anne Benedick and her uncle Lord Uffenham, starting the novel’s plot.
