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
- 1 tablespoon Milk
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 190°C /170°C fan/ 375°F.Add flour, salt, baking soda and mixed spices into a bowl300 grams Plain Flour, 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder, pinch Salt, ½ teaspoon Mixed Spice
- Add sugar and mix all together80 grams White Sugar
- Add butter and rub together using fingertips into the dry cake mix150 grams Butter
- It should resemble breadcrumbs
- Add sultanas200 grams Sultanas
- Stir through
- Whisk milk and egg together in a separate bowl1 Large Egg, 1 tablespoon Milk
- Add the whisked egg and milk to the rock cake mixture
- Use a fork to mix well together until moist and sticky
- Separate into 9 even-sized cakes use a fork to rough up the cakes a little.
- Leave space between each rock cake as they will grow during cooking! Cook in 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.80 grams White 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.
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!
Judy Rafter
Hi, I have no milk. Can I leave it out?
Elizabeth Solis
Your Rock Cakes with a cup of English tea, I was fully satisfied. My version, I didn't add the mixed spices and I used 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Luke and Kay
Thank you for your kind words, Elizabeth! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed your personal twist on our classic Rock Cakes recipe. We believe that food should be an experiment and love seeing how people adjust and add to the recipes to make them even tastier.
Alison
Great recipe! I always add lemon zest, which gives a lovely additional flavour if you’re using just sultanas and not mixed peel.
Luke and Kay
Thank you, Alison, for sharing your five-star review of our rock cakes recipe! We are glad to have offered you a delicious and successful baking experience.
We love hearing how our customers tailor the recipe to their tastes. Adding lemon zest really adds an extra dimension with its zesty, refreshing flavour - we might have to try it ourselves next time! You've given us food for thought and new ideas to experiment with :).
Pam Cuellar
I made these cakes yesterday. They were very good. I doubled the recipe ( I used cinnamon as my spice) and the only issue I had was that the dough was too dry so I added another egg and tablespoon of milk. Dough was perfect once I did that. I used a large scoop to portion them out, then roughed up the dough with my fingers. They baked a bit longer as well(about 25 minutes). I made 13 caked and sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar. I will definitely be making these again!
Luke and Kay
Hi Pam, thank you for taking the time to give us such wonderful feedback on your experience with our Rock Cake recipe! We are delighted that you were able to adjust the recipe and make it work perfectly for you. 🙂
Aileen
Yummy look so delicious.Perfect for afternoon tea snack.
Thank you for sharing!
Kay
Thank you so much, Aileen 🙂
I hope you enjoyed our rock cake recipe for your afternoon tea 🙂
Gale
What does “ mixed spice” consist of?
Kay
Hi gale, the mixed spice will normally consist of allspice, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground mace, ground cloves, ground coriander and ground Ginger
I hope this helps 🙂
Julia
Best rock cakes ever….
Kay
Thank you so much, Julia 🙂
So pleased you think our rock cake recipe is the best 😉
Peter Palmer
Haven't had rock cakes for 50 years found your recipe had to make them thanks
Kay
Thank you, Peter, for the 5* rating 🙂
So pleased you found our rock cake recipe and enjoyed them 😉
Alan
Great recipe easy to follow takes me back to my childhood thanks
Kay
Thank you, Alan 🙂
So lovely to hear our Rock cake recipe brings back childhood memories; for something different you might like to try out our Chocolate Chip Rock Buns they are delicious 😉
Enjoy!!
Rosie
Turned out great just as I remember them when I was a child. I had a lot more milk than the stated 1 tablespoon though.
Kay
Thank you, Rosie, for the comment 🙂
Nice to hear we brought back childhood memories with our rock cake recipe 😉
Regarding the milk, this can depend on the size of the eggs that were used; adding more milk may be required.
I hope this helps and you enjoy it in the future
Jenny
These are delicious and hands down the best rock cakes Ive ever tasted let alone made myself. Thanks very much from New Zealand
Kay
Thank you, Jenny, for the comment and rating, it really appreciated 🙂
So pleased to hear great feedback for our Rock cakes and all the way from New Zealand, is Fantastic!!
Enjoy 😉
Shelley
These are such fun! I'd never heard of rock cakes, but they're such a delight. So simple, and I love that I can switch it up with different dried fruits. Thank you!
Kay
Thank you so much, Shelley
Glad you like the rock cake recipe, always a great snack with a cup of tea or coffee 🙂
Liz
I had never heard of rock cakes before but I love any kind of bread/baked good! So this sounds right up my alley!
Kay
Thanks Liz
Hope you enjoy our rock cake recipe 🙂
Let us know your thoughts if you make our buns?
Enjoy!!
Claudia Lamascolo
Those look so good I love quick breads and this is perfect for breakfast and snacks
Kay
Thanks, Claudia
These rock cakes make the perfect snack with tea or coffee
Enjoy 🙂
Natalie
Oh yum! These cakes look delicious. They will go perfectly for my afternoon tea. Thanks!
Kay
Thank you so much, Natalie
You are right these rock cakes make the perfect afternoon tea treat 🙂
Enjoy!!
Beth
Oh wow! These were such a hit here and absolutely wonderful! We just loved these delicious cookies! My daughter loved helping me make these. Can't wait to make them again!
Kay
Thanks, Beth so glad you and your daughter loved making our rock cakes, they are a delicious snack 🙂
Thanks for the great feedback, enjoy!!