With the high winds yesterday morning, it seemed prudent to stay at home but at the same time I felt that irrepressible need to be cosy. With the storm bashing the walls of the house making the letter box clatter with every gust, it was time to gets the tunes blasting and the oven on, ready for rock buns!
I remember making these a lot as a child but hadn’t thought about them in years. Taking part of Blogtober – blogging each day in October – has really got me thinking though. Most people are following prompts following each letter of the alphabet for the first 26 days. Today was meant to be ‘Relaxation’ for ‘R’ but I couldn’t really think of anything I wanted to write about related to that. So I thought ‘R’ for ‘Rock buns’ instead! But combining the two, I give you my recipe for relaxing rock buns…
Relaxing Rock Buns
– Makes 12 –
230g flour
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
60g butter or ‘Pure’ works fine for dairy-free
60g lard (I use vegetable)
120g raisins
120g Demerara Sugar
Zest of half lemon
1 large egg
1-2 tablespoons of milk (dairy or plant)
Method
Grease two baking trays.
Preheat the oven to 190°C.
Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl.
Rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Stir in the fruit, sugar and lemon rind.
Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of milk.
Using a fork, stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, adding a little more milk if needed to give a stiff dough.
Using two forks, place the mixture in 12 small heaps on the greased baking trays. Don’t worry about making them look neat – they’re meant to look rocky!
Bake in pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes – keep an eye though as the edges can be quick to catch – you’re looking for a golden brown colour.
Cool on a wire rack and serve fresh.
Preferably with a HUGE pot of tea.
