These are very easy, very rustic and very yummy – a great combination of attributes. What’s more, it’s one of those “flexible” bakes; you can safely add a bit more of this and that, here and there.

Makes: About 18

Time: 30 – 40 minutes

Difficulty: Easy Peasy

Ingredients

75g/2.5oz caster sugar
40g/1.25oz – 60g/2oz mixed dried fruit*
30g/1oz – 40g/1.25oz glace cherries (washed and quartered)*
40g/1.25oz – 60g/2oz chocolate pieces (any colour – you choose. I used white for those shown here)*
30g/1oz – 40g/1.25oz mini marshmallow (or big ones cut up)*
30g/1oz – 40g/1.25oz biscuit pieces*
1 or 2 medium eggs
50ml/1.75fl oz milk
275g/9.5oz Self-raising flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp baking powder
20g/0.75oz – 30g/1oz cocoa powder
150g/5.5oz unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

* Aim for about 200g/7oz – 225g/8oz of these “bits” (You might also want to reserve a few bits to pop on top of any rock cakes prior to baking if they look slightly less “well endowed” than their fellow cakes.)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C / fan 180C / 400F / Gas 6. Grease and line two large baking trays. (A light dusting of flour or cocoa powder might help when it comes to lifting the baked rock cakes off the trays – melted chocolate can be difficult.)

2. Weigh out the sugar and all the “bits” marked with an asterisk*. Put them in a bowl and set aside for now.

3. In a small bowl, beat the egg (or eggs) with the milk. Set aside for now. (All this “setting aside” will make life easier in a few minutes – I promise.)

4. Sift the flour, salt, mixed spice, baking powder and cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl and stir well, to mix thoroughly.

5. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

6. Stir in the reserved bowl of sugar and “bits”.

7. Make a well in the centre and pour in the egg & milk mixture. (Told you, it’d be easy didn’t I?)

8. Using a palette knife, bring the mixture together into a fairly stiff dough.

9. Spoon “dollops” of the mixture onto the prepared baking trays. Use a floured spoon to neaten them if you want, but it’s not exactly a neat sort of bake, so don’t worry too much about it.

10. Bake for 13 – 16 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave on the trays for 5 – 10 minutes then lift them off with a palette knife to cool fully on a wire rack.

I hope you enjoy these rock cakes. If you want to see more tasty recipes for biscuits and cookies click here. Or have a look at the rest of my site for other recipes.

Two popular ones that I’ll recommend are my Adaptable Oaty Biscuits and my Chocy Road Cookies.