When I think of my Mum and Nana baking, in my mind's eye, Rock Buns are what I picture them making. Both women taught me a great many things but I thank them the most for teaching me how to cook from scratch.
My youth is peppered with lovely memories from my childhood in West Cumbria. One of the highlights was the adventures me and my sister would have with my nana in her red car that had no seat belts in the back (yes, I am that old). We were the navigators. We came to the junction and would squeal left, right or straight on for Pilot Nana to take. Other times we would get excited when we were treated to a picnic because that would mean the luxury of visiting Morrisons salad bar (look! I told you, I’m old. We didn’t have Morrisons on the West Coast back then). It was such a novelty to go to a salad bar. The concept was so alien and new to us back then. With the pack lunch bought, we would set off into the wilds of Longtown, where we had our first taste of wild swimming at Penton Linns within the view on the bridge, straddling the English and Scottish border.
Nana or “Betty” to everyone who knew her, owned the café in Gretna many moons ago. Every day she would make her famous Scotch pies and ham salad sandwiches. The truckers would come from miles around just for them. After school, my Grandad would take my Mum on the ice cream rounds, serving the local area. Everything was made from scratch and as a result, everything tasted amazing. Every time my sister and I came to stay with my Nana there would always be a pan of soup on the go and we would help each other reach the biscuit tub in the hope that Rock Buns would greet us rather than the occasional sad moment when it was a soft custard cream!
One of my cherished kitchen items is my 1975 Be-Ro Century Edition Cookbook that was my Nana’s. A book that is well-worn, and despite new editions on my shelf, it’s always this one that I pick up. I have never seemed to go past page 6, where under the title of Scones and Tea Loaves lies the recipe of Rock Buns… these days sometimes going by Rock Cakes.
Rock Buns or Rock Cakes, are great to make for your post-swim snack, so let’s get to it.
Ingredients
- 200g Self Raising Flour
- 100g Margarine
- 100g Sugar
- 75g Currants*
- 25g Mixed Peel*
- 1 Egg
- Milk to mix
* These ingredients are very much up to you. I like to put cherries in like my Nana used to do. Sometimes I mix it up with raisins instead of currents, or ginger instead of mixed peel. It’s up to you!
Method
- Bump up the temperature of your oven to 200 degrees.
- Put your flour into a large bowl and rub in the margarine. My mum and Nana would always say that you need to keep your hands cool during this process. The rubbing must be light but quick and I was never EVER supposed to end up getting any mixture on my palms. Instant fail if that happened.
- Stir in your sugar, currants and peel, or whatever you want to jazz up your mixture.
- Mix in the egg and add milk slowly until the mixture is mixed and not too sloppy.
- Place rough heaps on a greased-up baking tray.
- And then pop in your nice and hot over for 15-20 minutes.
- Allow to cool on the tray for a bit before transferring them to a cool tray.
- Rock Buns are best served fresh and warm, or cooled and served with a piping hot drink by a body of water!
Check out our other post swim recipes to have at your favourite swimming location.
