Rock Cakes

From Ars Cookbook

I know the result of this recipe as 'Rock Cakes'; and with any recipe, this is but one interpretation (there's a Bajan one that creates a bigger 'bun' and it's yellow).

So, on with the recipe.

Ingredients

• 8 oz plain flour, chilled
• 3 oz butter or margarine, chilled
• 3 oz brown sugar, preferably Bajan, though Demerara will do
• 3 - 4 oz dried fruit (sultanas, raisans, currants)
• 1 egg
• milk to bind

Preparation

• Pre-heat an oven to 400F / 200C, adjust appropriately if you have a fan oven
• Lightly scramble the egg
• Place a sheet of greaseproof or baking parchment on a baking tray (cookie tray will work too)

Process

1. Rub the fat into the flour, until the mixture is of a bread-crumb like consistency. Use the tips of your fingers, not the palm of your hand.
   1. Alternately, use a gadget (like a stick blender with the blade attachment) that does it for you, but where's the fun in that?
2. Add in the sugar, stir to distribute evenly
3. Add the dried fruit, breaking up any large clusters
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture and pour in the egg. Blend the egg into the flour with your fingertips, attempting to spread the egg througout the mixture.
5. Add a small splash of milk, no more than a teaspoon, and combine it into the mixture. Your aim is to bind the ingredients together, without making a wet mixture like bread or cookies; this make take some practice.
   1. If the mixture doesn't bind fully, break it apart, add a little more milk and try again until it just about hangs together when compacted.
6. Tear off table-spoon sized chunks, optinally dipping the rough side in more brown sugar, and place rough-side up on a baking tray. Properly made, this mixture does not spread at all, so you can pack them on quite tightly.
7. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, checking the tray at the 20 minute mark. Rock cakes are done when they start to brown on the outside.

If the mixture is too wet, bake anyway, they're still delicious.

Recipe makes approximately 20 rock cakes.