Friday 1 March 2013

Cherry, Nut and Cognac Rock Cakes ...

This recipe is inspired by one of my closest friends' Mum, Kathy. She makes delicious rock cakes when we go and visit her, and I've been meaning to get the recipe from her for ages. Yesterday, she sent me the recipe & I couldn't resist having a go today.

I've slightly modified the original recipe by adding cherries instead of dried apricots, and by soaking the sultanas in a little booze. I think it adds a little naughty-edge, but of course if you're making these for children just miss out the booze. You really can use any of your favourite nuts - pistachios, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, or a mixture of your favourites. Have fun playing with the recipe and using what you have in the cupboards. 

They're so simple to make, and take minutes to cook. Always a winner if you've got unannounced visitors, or fancy a quick trouble-free bake! 


Ingredients

225g Self Raising Flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
125g butter, chilled
125g Demerara sugar, plus 1 level tbsp for sprinkling
75g glacee cherries, chopped into chunky sultana-sized pieces
75g sultanas soaked briefly in 1 tbsp cognac
60g mixed nuts (I used pecans, hazelnuts and almonds) roughly chopped/blitzed
2 medium eggs
2-3 tbsp milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2. Sift the flour and spices into a large bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs.

3. Add 125g Demerara sugar, the cherries, sultanas (with cognac) and mixed nuts. Break the eggs into a small bowl, add 2 tbsp milk and beat with a fork until evenly mixed. Add to the flour and fruit mix, and mix well to form a stiff dough. Add a bit more milk if necessary.

4. Put 12 rough piles of the mixture onto a baking tray and sprinkle with Demerara sugar. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool for 5 mins and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Eat these within a day, or freeze them if you need to make them in advance. 


the blobs ready for the oven

close up before baking

just out of the oven - cooling for 5 mins before transferring to the wire rack

transferred to the wire rack for final cooling

YUM! Time to tuck in :-)


Happy 'First Day of Spring' everyone! 
Enjoy your weekend, 
and Happy Baking if you do any! :-)

Mrs B 
xxx