I recently had lunch with a friend at Marshall’s Farm Shop outside Inverurie, and after a splendid feed in the restaurant, we enjoyed browsing the shop itself. There was a fabulous butcher stand which sells tempting pies and steaks, and elsewhere in the shop, local jams and biscuits were available, delectable drinks as well – and there were fancies galore! This recipe makes 9 more-ish rock buns that are moist and delicious, packed with a citrus zing and succulent sultanas. Of course I did my usual thing, of heading home, and halfway there, deciding too late, that I really should have bought some of those fancies – particularly the rock buns! A week later I managed to find a rock bun recipe in the Harray S.W.R.I (1936 – 1986) recipe book – and these tasty treats were worth the wait. This recipe makes 9 more-ish rock buns that are moist and delicious, packed with a citrus zing and succulent sultanas. Though perhaps not the most picturesque of fancies to serve up, these rock buns are filling and very satisfying to eat. My thanks go to Elsie Flett who submitted the recipe to the book – it was a breeze to make! The ingredients to make the Rock Buns photo © Copyright Magnus Dixon Ingredients: 227g / 8 oz (2 cups) self raising flour 113g / 4 oz (½ cup) margarine 113g / 4 oz (½ cup) sugar Pinch salt 1 egg Grated rind of 1 lemon or orange 75g / 2½ oz (½ cup) dried fruit (we used sultanas) Sprinkle of demerara sugar (optional) The prepared ingredients – ready to combine photo © Copyright Magnus Dixon Method: 1. Put the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl, and rub the margarine into the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. 2. Add the grated rind and dried fruit, stirring well. 3. Mix in the beaten egg – the ingredients should be quite sticky now! The completed mixture photo © Copyright Magnus Dixon 4. Line a baking tray with baking paper and create small rough mounds, far apart as the rock buns will spread out when baked (if you like to be precise like me, I made each one around 65g in weight, which made 9 rock buns in total). The mixture formed into mounds – ready to go in the oven photo © Copyright Magnus Dixon 5. You can sprinkle some demerara sugar on top before baking for a sweet crunchy finish! The freshly baked Rock Buns photo © Copyright Magnus Dixon 6. Bake at 220°C (in a fan oven) for 2 or 3 minutes, then reduce to 200°C (in a fan oven) for 10 to 15 minutes until all the rock buns are golden. 7. These are best eaten when warm and best served to the good people in your life! By Magnus Dixon Orkney and Shetland enthusiast, family man, loves walks, likes animals, terrible at sports, dire taste in music, adores audiobooks and films, eats a little too much for his own good. Pin it! Header image: Rock Buns – ready to serve photo © Copyright Magnus Dixon
