A favourite British classic recipe, these old-fashioned rock cakes use simple ingredients and are easy to make.
A small single-served cake so named after its similar appearance to a rock, but don't let that put you off. Despite their appearance, these simple rock cakes are wonderfully crumbly and sweet!
How to make rock cakes?
You can't go wrong making these easy English rock cakes; even the kids can help out. Check out the recipe slideshow below.
Continue to read for all the pictures, tips and tricks showing you how to make rock cakes at home, or use the below link to jump straight to the recipe card!
Rock cakes recipe card - printableHistory
Rock cakes were trendy during World War 2; they used fewer rationed ingredients like egg and sugar than other English cake recipes.
Enabling families to have a sweet treat during the strict wartime rationing. Sometimes oatmeal would be used instead of flour.
More recently, they have been featured in the Harry Potter books, where Hagrid made them numerous times, but they were not enjoyed due to Hagrid's poor cooking skills. They were too hard!
Rock cake ingredients
Ingredients for rock cakes are plain flour, baking powder, mixed spice, salt, sugar, butter, sultanas, egg and milk.
Substitutes
Flour
We make our rock cakes with plain flour, salt and baking powder to give a slight rise to them.
You could use self-raising flour instead for a similar result. Remember, no baking powder or salt will be needed if using self-raising flour (as it is already added to self-raising flour).
Mixed Spices
You can substitute the mixed spices with a mix of your favourite spices instead.
Dried Fruit
You can use a bag of mixed dried fruit instead of sultanas. Or any dried fruit you prefer, such as apricots, cranberries, apples or dates.
You could also switch the dried fruit for chocolate to make chocolate rock buns.
The rock cake mixture should have a thick and sticky texture. The mixture will make nine large cakes.
Remember, these do not need to be smooth, neat and tidy.
I encourage you to rough them up with a fork before baking to help achieve the rough rocky cracks. Perfect for sprinkling sugar into once cooked!
We like to cook our sultana rock cakes on a silicone sheet, but you can use parchment or greaseproof paper instead on a baking tray.
Oven Setting
I recommend cooking rock cakes in a conventional oven; even if you have a fan oven, turn it to a conventional setting or cake setting if you have that option.
This will give you the crispy outside and soft crumble in the middle that rock cakes are known for.
Temperature
Cook at 190°C / 375°F (if you must use a fan - 170°C) for 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on them; they should have grown a little and been a light golden brown.
Don't let those sultanas or dried fruit burn! I find about 18 minutes is just right!
Cooling
Straight from the oven, it is normal for the rock cakes to be a bit soft to the touch. They firm up as they cool.
Keep them on the baking tray until they have cooled enough to touch. Then transfer to a wire rack so they don't get a soggy bottom!
Before they cool too much, it's time to take these simple rock cakes to the next level with a sprinkle of sugar, which gets into all the grooves and cracks.
There you have it, the best rock cake recipe; you must try it to believe it!
What are rock cakes like inside?
Inside the crispy sugary shell of rock cakes is a marvellous crumbly texture with an even scattering of your chosen dried fruit.
Makes a fantastic addition to a British afternoon tea cake stand.
It can also be served similarly to British scones, with clotted cream and jam.
What is the difference between scones and rock cakes?
British scones and English rock cakes have similar ingredients, but the scone mix has a dough-like texture that is shaped with your hands and cut with cutters to be smooth.
Rock cake mixture, on the other hand, has a sticky cake texture, which isn't handled or shaped, helping to create the desirable rough and crispy cracks on the outside,
They have a lovely soft sweet crumbly texture which is washed down perfectly with a cup of tea.
The kids love to help make these cakes, and they are a great addition to their lunch box or for a family picnic.
📖 Step by Step Recipe
Rock Cakes Old Fashioned Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 300 grams Plain Flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 80 grams White Sugar - + extra to sprinkle on once baked Caster or Granulated can be used
- pinch Salt
- ½ teaspoon Mixed Spice
- 150 grams Butter
- 200 grams Sultanas - Can use any dried fruits
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 tablespoon Milk
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 190°C /170°C fan/ 375°F.Add 300 grams Plain Flour, 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder, pinch Salt and ½ teaspoon Mixed Spice into a bowl.
- Add 80 grams White Sugar and mix all together
- Add 150 grams Butter and rub together using fingertips into the dry cake mix
- It should resemble breadcrumbs.
- Add 200 grams Sultanas
- Stir through so evenly distributed.
- Whisk 1 Large Egg and 2 tablespoon Milk together in a separate bowl
- Add the whisked mixture to the dry ingredients
- Use a fork to mix well together until it becomes sticky and forms together.
- Separate into approx 9 even-sized cakes use a fork to rough up the tops of the cakes a little.
- Leave space between each rock cake as they will grow a little during cooking! Cook in a preheated 190°C /170°C fan/ 375°F oven for 15-20 minutes until golden.
- Remove from oven, it is normal for them to still feel a bit soft at this point. They will firm up whilst cooling!
- Once cool enough to touch with hands, transfer to a wire rack to allow to cool further.
- Sprinkle with extra sugar.
- Eat whilst still warm, or allow to cool then store in an airtight container until ready to eat.
Video
Nutrition
Updated on 10/04/2023 to include frequently asked questions.
If you love this easy rock cake recipe and want more sweet, easy recipes suitable to make with children, try our thumbprint cookies and oat flapjacks or the kids will love this no-bake edible cookie dough recipe.
Or stick with the sultana theme and make our large sultana cake similar but even more impressive!
Please let us know how you get on, and remember to share this recipe with others to bring these fantastic old-fashioned rock cakes back into fashion again!
How to make rock cakes - old fashioned British recipe using simple ingredients. Easy and quick, and the kids can help too!
FAQs
The mixture should be dry, but if it is too dry to even form together you can add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time or use another egg.
Yes you can use self-raising flour instead of plain flour. Self-raising flour already contains baking powder so remember not to use additional baking powder when using self-raising flour.
If your sultanas are sinking to the bottom the mixture is too runny.
Jannette
I have my aunt’s recipe for rock cakes, it’s on a yellowing scrap of paper.
Your recipe is almost the same.
A small amount of sultanas and the occasional glacé cherries were added
and just before baking a sliver of almond was pushed into the top.
Instead of sugar a light layer of icing sugar was sprinkled on top.
It was my favourite, I always asked her to make some when she visited.
Rose-Marie Meadows
Made these so many times, best rock cakes/scones ever. Used different fruits and doubled the recipe as they get eaten very quickly in my house. There is only 3 of us lol. Can I ask if I want to make without fruit, what would the recipe be, thank you x
Luke and Kay
Hello Rose-Marie,
We're thrilled to hear that you have enjoyed our rock cakes recipe and have made them so many times! We love hearing about our readers' success in the kitchen. To answer your question, we do have a variation of our rock cake recipe without fruit. We make them with chocolate chips and they are superb, Chocolate Chip Rock Buns hope you enjoy the recipe and please let us know your thoughts 🙂
Grace
Why add sugar after baking? Can you sprinkle with turbinado sugar prior to baking?
Sandra Morris
Thank you for sharing your recipe, have not made them since I was at School many years ago. They turned out great. I used Raisins, I put them in a strainer, poured hot water over them for a few min, patted them dry and put into mixture.
Luke and Kay
Thank you for trying out our recipe, Sandra! We're glad to hear that your rock cakes turned out great. Using raisins is a wonderful alternative and we appreciate your tip on how to prepare them. Thank you for sharing your experience with us, happy baking! 🙂
Belle & Bo
My son requested these, he said this recipe is better then he rembers us buying from the bakers when he was young! Many thanks for sharing
Luke and Kay
Hi Belle
We're so touched to hear that our rock cakes recipe brought back such fond memories for your son and even surpassed his recollections of the bakery ones! It's comments like yours that truly make our day. 🙂
Vicki
Lovely recipe, just what I had been looking for.
Luke and Kay
Thank you for the 5-star review, Vicky! We're delighted to hear that our rock cake recipe was just what you were looking for. Happy baking! 🙂
Cara
Help I’m half way through making these and it says baking soda but no measurements and it’s not in the ingredients. Only measurements are for baking powder
Luke
Hi Cara, it is the baking powder measurement you want. I will correct the typo tomorrow.
BERYL L BALFOUR
With me being British I love your recipe for sweet rock cakes, but as I have to watch out for sugar, do you not have any savoury rock cake recipes?? I was trained at the Cordon Bleu School, so love experimenting. I have access to a Bakery that sells Organic Ancient Grains eg: Spelt, Einkorn, Emmer, Kamut, Khorazan etc, so would use these grains, sifted. I try to steer away from White flour even though unbleached, but if I have to add some white, I will do so. I like to pack my savoury baking with lots of herbs, cheese, herby mushrooms, peppers, sundried tomatoes, but I need that rock cake crunchiness. I have a pretty good Devonshire Tea recipe, but I would love to try one of yours sometime. I live in British Columbia, Canada now. Thank you so much. Beryl Balfour/ I was Gallimore-Brooks and married a Scot!!!.
Luke and Kay
Hello Beryl,
Thank you so much for your interest in our recipes and for sharing a bit about your culinary background! It's truly inspiring to hear from someone who enjoys experimenting with different ingredients and flavours.
As of now, we don't have a specific recipe for savoury rock cakes. However, we're always looking for new ways to expand our recipe collection and cater to different dietary needs and preferences. Your suggestion of a savoury rock cake using ancient grains like Spelt, Einkorn, Emmer, Kamut, Khorasan and packed with herbs, cheese, herby mushrooms, peppers, sundried tomatoes sounds absolutely delicious and it's certainly something we'd love to explore further.
We appreciate your feedback and will definitely keep your recipe suggestions in mind for future updates. In the meantime, you might want to experiment by replacing some of the sweet elements in our rock cake recipe with your favourite savoury ingredients. Remember, the key to a great rock cake is a crumbly texture and a rich flavour, so feel free to get creative with your substitutions!
Once again, thank you for reaching out. We hope to bring you a savoury rock cake recipe that meets your requirements in the future. Happy baking!
Best, Luke and Kay 🙂
Andy Ross
As my wife doesn't like raisins or sultanas I use mixed peel instead, I have also used desiccated coconut 160g and leave the fruit out altogether which also makes a nice alternative
Luke and Kay
Thank you for your five star rating and your creative variation of our classic rock cakes recipe, Andy! We appreciate hearing how our customers enjoy personalizing and making our recipes their own. We love the idea of replacing the raisins and sultanas with mixed peel, as well as using desiccated coconut in place of fruit entirely for a delicious twist. We're thrilled that you've found a way to make these traditional treats adaptable to a variety of palates. Keep experimenting!