Sugar and spice rock cakes

With a house full of people whatever I bake seems to magically disappear in a day. This is good for me because I’m allowed to bake whatever I want but it can’t be good for my family’s waistlines…Anyway, I’ve been working my way through the recipes I fancy in June’s Good Food mag and I thought I’d give these a whirl. You’ll see from my pictures that my rock cakes look more like biscuits than ‘cakes’. I have no idea why this is but they were all eaten in record time so who cares?

Ingredients (makes 10)

200g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp mixed spice

100g butter

85g light muscovado sugar

100g dried mixed fruit

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp milk

Demerara sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 170⁰C/gas mark 4. Line a tray with baking parchment. Combine the flour, baking powder and 1 tsp of mixed spice in a large mixing bowl.

Add the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients using your fingers until they form fine crumbs.

Mix in the muscovado sugar and fruit. Add the egg and milk. Mix it all together to create a firm dough.

Spoon ten dollops of mixture onto the baking sheet, leaving some room for spreading. Mix together the remaining mixed spice with a spoonful of Demerara sugar and sprinkle over the cakes. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

According to the original recipe it says these taste best eaten on the day they’re made, but I’m no authority on this seeing as I went to the cinema after I made them and only one was left by the time I arrived home…