There’s a bit of a story with this recipe for rock cakes. A few years ago, three fabulous women joined me to take on the Oxfam Trailwalker 100km fundraising event under the illustrious team name, The Bold Strumpets. Now these strumpets were a talented bunch and during the event (to keep our minds off things) we’d take it in turns to entertain with stories, games and recipes.
During the long months of training, we tested out a variety of snacks and tasty delights to keep our bodies fuelled up for the long hike through the night and one of them came from Anna Strumpet. However, she can’t lay claim to being the recipe originator. She worked with Lisa (a trail runner) at the University of Technology Sydney, who swore by the energy, shelf life and tasty qualities of her family’s rock cakes. They called them ‘Evers‘, because they would give you the energy to go on for ever. True to her word, they did.
Ingredients
- 2 tbs butter
- 2 cups of self raising flour (or plain with 2 tsp baking powder)
- 2 cups sultanas or mixed fruit
- ⅓ cup sugar
- Optional: chopped walnuts
- ½ tsp lemon essence (essential)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbs milk
Method for making Rock Cakes
- Preheat oven to 165c and place sheet of baking paper on top of baking tray.
- Rub butter and flour until all butter disappears.
- Add dried fruit and sugar (and optional walnuts).
- Stir in lemon essence and eggs.
- Gradually add milk, a little at a time, enough to moisten all the ingredients. You need to end up with a mixture that is as dry as possible.
- Take dessertspoonful of mixture and roll into a ball. Place on baking tray and press down slightly.
- Cook at about 165 (not very hot) for about 10 minutes or until they look brown. [Hmmm, I have a dodgy oven, mine took about 30 mins!]
