reading time: 3 min
The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J. K. Rowling
For any Muggles who don't know: Rubeus Hagrid is the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, a gentle giant (quite literally), and one of Harry's close friends. His birthday is on December 6, so today's blogpost is dedicated to him. Happee birthdae Hagrid!
Much to Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's regret, Hagrid often serves them his homemade rock cakes when they go to visit him in his hut. As the quote above hints, rock cakes are an almost-toothbreakingly hard, sticky and tasteless kind of fruitcake that contain raisins.
But of course, for our recipe we don't want them to be tasteless – and
maybe not quite as rock-hard – , so I adapted them to be quite enjoyable
:)
Texture-wise my vegan rock cakes are a mixture of scones and cram cookies – and come to think of it, they also kind of resemble Bilbo's seed cakes that I made last year, but more clumpy and ... fist-shaped, if that makes sense.
BTW: Rock cakes also exist in the Muggle world, where they are also called rock buns, as their rough surface resembles a rock. They are small cakes that were common during the Second World War as they required fewer eggs and less sugar than ordinary cakes. They are also made with oatmeal, which was more readily available than flour. Traditionally, they are made with flour (or oatmeal), butter or margarine, sugar, lemon, milk, and baking powder. Spices like nutmeg and dried fruit such as currants, raisins, or candied orange peel may also be added.
Let's get baking!
HAGRID'S VEGAN ROCK CAKES
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (200 g) spelt flour (type 1050)
1/2 cup (50 g) old-fashioned oats
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup (55 g) brown sugar
1/2 cup (110 g) vegan butter or margarine, cold
1 tbsp orange zest
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
4–5 tbsp dairy-free milk
1/2 cup (60 g) raisins or currants (or sub other dried fruits such as cranberries, cherries, prunes or apricots, or dark chocolate, coarsely chopped; soak raisins in rum for a grown-up version)
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, orange zest, and spices.
With your hands, rub in the butter until combined and crumbly. (Come on, don't be so squeamish – get your hands in there! You know, Hagrid wouldn't hesitate for a second to get his hands dirty. Then again, Hagrid would probably not clean his hands beforehand either ... so clean your hands, you filthy bugger!)
Add vanilla extract and dairy-free milk, until you have a stiff dough. Lastly, fold in chopped dried fruits or dark chocolate.
Drop the dough by large scoops onto the prepared baking sheet in uneven spiky heaps – about 1 ice cream scoop or 1 1/2 tbsp per cake. Since they are supposed to look like knobbly rocks there is no need to shape the dough into neat disks.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown – about 15 minutes. (Hagrid certainly baked the cakes longer because he got distracted by Fang or Norbert or some other magical creature.)
As they are more on the dry side, rock cakes are best consumed with a big mug of English breakfast tea. Enjoy either on their own or cut in half with (vegan) butter or jam!
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
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| Bilbo's Seed Cakes (vegan) |
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| The Hobbit's Cram Cookies (vegan) |
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| Legolas' Lembas (vegan) |
♥
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