How to make vegan Rock cakes. Rock cakes are little cakes for the tin that last for about a week, or however long your family can resist them! My grandma made them for many, many years, seemingly without using a recipe, just eyeballing the ingredients until the dough felt “right” and then dolloping it out on baking sheets.
You may have encountered Rock cakes in cookery classes at school, where some of the first things you learned to cook were cupcakes, buns or rock cakes, their simplicity and almost foolproofness making them perfect for indelicate little hands to make.
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But What Are Rock Cakes?
Rock cakes are very similar to a scone in both taste and texture, sweetened, flakey, slightly crumbly, buttery cakes, studded with raisins and dropped in dollops onto your baking sheet. That’s where the difference is between scones and Rock cakes (also called Rock Buns): Scone dough is rolled out and rounds are stamped out using cutters, giving a uniform shape that is perfect for splitting and filling with jam and cream.
Mrs Beeton has a recipe for them in her classic Book of Household Management, so one would assume that the recipe is actually from further back than that.
In fact, they became extremely popular during the second world war as a cheaper treat, the traditional recipe only uses one egg (which I’ve replaced here with egg replacer), and little sugar, relying instead on dried fruit to add sweetness. My recipe does use a little more sugar because I prefer them on the sweeter side, but feel free to halve the sugar quantity if you’d rather.
Because they are nubbly, bumpy little cakes, they were given the rather unappealing name of Rock cakes, which doesn’t really do the flaky, sweet texture justice! However, one bite of them, especially straight from the oven, and you will fall in love with this simple, old fashioned treat.
How Do You Make Rock Cakes?
They are so easy to make, and Rock Cakes are easy to make vegan too! I love any sweet treat that I can make in less than an hour and these definitely fit the bill.
Firstly, rub together the flour, baking powder, sugar and vegan butter until you have a breadcrumb texture. Rubbing simply means gently working the fat into the flour using your thumb and forefingers. It also helps to aerate the mixture, giving a light texture.
Then mix in your prepared vegan egg and dried fruit. I nearly always use Orgran No Egg Replacer in my baking as I find it the most reliable replacer on the market.
Finally, bring your mixture together. You might need to add a little milk to get a cohesive texture. You don’t want to beat the mixture as you will lose the light texture, so if it still looks a little lumpy, that’s fine.
Then, very gently, pull small apple sized balls of the dough off your mixture and drop onto a lined baking sheet.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until lightly golden brown. That’s it!
Can I Make Gluten Free Rock Cakes?
Yes! Simply exchange the flour for your favourite gluten free flour mix. You might need to add a little extra milk to bind the mixture, as GF dough can be a little bit crumbly and temperamental to work with!
Additions to your Rock Cakes
You can personalise your Rock Cakes in several different ways!
- Dried cranberries instead of raisins
- Chocolate Chips instead of raisins
- Add some spices, mixed spice or ginger would make a delightfully festive flavoured Rock Cake!
If you loved this recipe, you’ll enjoy my 30 minute Pumpkin Choc Chip Muffins too!
Ingredients
- 350 g Plain Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 150 g Sugar
- 175 g Vegan Butter or Margarine cold and cubed
- 1 tbsp Egg Replacer whisked up with 2 tbsp cold water
- 160 g Raisins or Sultanas
- 2 tbsp Dairy Free Milk (you may not need to use all of it)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190c
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder.
- Now, add the butter/margarine and gently rub this into the dry mixture until you have breadcrumb texture
- Now add the raisins, distributing through the mixture using a wooden spoon
- Add the egg replacer and stir thoroughly until the mixtures starts to clump together
- Add a tablespoon of milk and keep gently mixing until the clumps get bigger and are sticking to the back of the wooden spoon. If you can pick up a clump and it adheres, then you're ready to do!
- Now, older recipes say to drop forkfuls of the mixture onto your baking sheet, but I prefer to pinch off large hunks (about the size of a satsuma) and drop them onto the sheet like that.
- You should get between 10-12 rock cakes from the mixture. No need to flatten them down.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until light golden brown.
- Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a cooling rack.
I love these rock cakes! I’ve never even thought of making my own before. So sweet with a light and crumbly texture. I love how quick they are to make too.
I love the history of each recipe you create. My kid made them at school on a few occasions, but I had no idea they were so popular. Still learning!:)
I loved learning what these were and can’t wait to try them!
I like how simple these vegan rock cakes are!:) This will be a perfect snack for me together with my coffee or tea.:) Thanks!
I never heard of rock cakes but they look delicious. What a lovely treat to have with cup of coffee or tea. I’m going to make them
Gotta love grandma’s recipes and the fact they rarely used a recipe and everything they made was always so good. These rock cakes sound perfect to go with a cup of tea or coffee.
I remember we are being gifted with this kind of sweets before. I can make them now using your recipe and glad its vegan. Thank you!