11 January, 2004

Rock Buns, Mark I

One of my christmas presents was Harriet's recipe for rock buns, plus a mixing bowl.  I'd finally bought eggs (I don't ordinarily eat them), so gave the recipe a try this afternoon.

All went well until they went in the oven.  I was supposed to cook them for 12 mins at gas mark 7 (225ºC).  After five minutes they settled and flowed from little spheres into thick pancakes, which didn't seem quite right.  After 12 mins, the tops were nicely browned, but heavily cracked, and, like a lava flow, liquid material was visible in the gaps.

As instructed, I waited a minute, then removed them from the oven and transferred them to a wire rack to cool - or tried. That's when I discovered that they were properly cooked on the upper surface and sides, but virtually raw underneath. If I'd left them longer, the tops would have blackened. They'd simply cooked too quickly, and the heat hadn't penetrated.
I wasn't sure what to do, so I let them cool for a while on the baking try (I couldn't transfer them), but they only solidified slightly as the temperature dropped. I flipped them over, and it was even more obvious that they were undercooked, as the inner material was much darker than the cooked edges, and shiny, i.e. still wet . Finally, I put them back in a hot oven for another 5-7 mins, upside-down, so more cooked and they were at least rendered safe to eat, if a little moist and chewy.
Having spoken to a couple of people, two faults may have been significant. Firstly, Harriet may have advised the use of too much butter; 5oz (ounces; 1oz = 28g) together with 8oz flour, 5 oz sugar, 5 oz dried fruit and an egg seems rather a lot, and that might have caused them to flow and flatten to the extent they did. Secondly, the combination of temperature and time mightn't have been quite right for my oven.

So, not perfect, but a useful exercise, and the results certainly taste good. I'll try the recipe again in the week, once I've eaten the first batch, and I think I'll experiment.