Baking Buns

The recent hot sunny weather has made me less inspired to bake things, but until we became so sun kissed around here I would bake a batch of our current favourites each week. Sometimes it's flapjacks, sometimes it's scones, or maybe a tray bake - very easy traditional recipes, old fashioned home baking is our favourite. The latest craze before the heat wave, was rock buns. I don't know what made me dig out an old recipe and, finding I had all the ingredients in stock, begin to make these simple little cakes. They are called rock buns because of their shape, not (hopefully) their hardness. I love recipes where you throw it all in the mixer and it's done quickly and you don't have to wait too long for it to cook. These are so delicious and tempting - the lemon zest makes them really yummy.

Favourite Rock Buns

100gbutter, 225g plain flour, 2 level tsps baking powder, 1/2 tsp mixed spice (optional), pinch salt, 100g demerara sugar, 100g mixed dried fruit, grated rind of 1/2 lemon, 1 large egg, beaten, 1 tsp milk. Place baking parchment on two baking trays. Rub the butter into the sifted flour, baking powder, spices and salt until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar, fruit and lemon rind. Pour in the egg and milk, and mix until stiff and crumbly. Use a big spoon to drop the mixture onto the baking trays, roughly shaping the cakes into similar sizes. Bake in the oven at 200C for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container and they'll keep for a few days - or maybe not......