Cherry Rock Buns

As a child I used to devour Enid Blyton books.  I love the ones about the fairies and gnomes and wishing trees . . . but I especially loved the adventure books and the ones about kids in boarding schools with tuck boxes and tea time treats and picnic fare which sounded to me to be exotic.   



Sausage rolls and pork pies, cherry cakes and ginger beer.  Wobbly blanc manges.   Tinned and potted meat spread onto hugs slabs of homemade bread . . . jam sandwiches, gingernuts, fruit jellies.  Rock cakes.  It was all so deliciously tempting sounding, and I dreamt about what it might be like to gorge myself on such a wonderous feast.  Yes , , , for me it has always been a out the food.



We didn't have such things at home.  None of our meat came from tins and we were never allowed to gorge ourselves on fruit jellies and sausage rolls or wobbly blanc manges.   We were never allowed to gorge ourselves on anything.  My mother's idea of a treat was an apple.  Healthy yes . . . exotic no.



Rock Cakes.   Deliciously buttery scone like drop cakes, short and crumbly and reported to be one of Harry Potter's favourite treats.   Stogged full of candied cherries and dried currants.  I use the undyed cherries.  Not as bright, but not as bad, or at least not in my mind.



Wonderful, fresh out of the oven with a glass of cold milk.  You could split them and spread them with butter, but I like them plain.  They are a beautiful once in a bluemoon treat and whenever I bake them I think of magic wands and indulgent picnics in the woods.



A girl needs some magic  in her life don't you think?

*Cherry Rock Buns*
Makes 12

Printable Recipe 

A favourite children's snack.  Quick, easy to make, melt in the mouth buttery good, and stogged full of cherries and currants.  

250g self raising flour (1 3/4 cup)

2 tsp baking powder

125g butter,slightly softened and cut into bits (1/2 cup)

50g of soft light brown sugar (1/4 cup, packed)

100g of candied cherries, quartered (about 1/2 cup)

50g currants (1/3 cup)

1 large free range egg, beaten

2 TBS milk

2 TBS demerara sugar for sprinkling    

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*f/ gas mark 6.  Line two baking sheets with baking paper.  Set aside.  

Sift the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder.  Drop in the butter.  Rub the butter in using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.  Beat the egg together with the milk and add to the dry ingredients.  Stir in with a round bladed knife to form a stick dough. If the dough seems too dry, add a bit more milk. Stir in the cherries and currants.  Drop by heaped TBS onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving space between each for spreading.  Sprinkle the tops with demerara sugar.


Bake in the heated oven, one tray at a time, for 15 minutes, turning the trays once during baking.   These are best eaten on the day.   They freeze well however, so you can pack them into an airtight container and just take them out as you want them, reheating them gently in the microwave for about 2 minutes, or packing frozen and wrapped into the lunch bucket.  They will be thawed and perfect for eating by lunch time.

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Frosty Cottage Pie

 

 With really careful planning you can get a lot of milage out of a simple beef roast.  For instance the brisket that I cooked the other day as a pot roast, has also yielded us two more meals.  One in the shape of those Hash Buns from yesterday and the second in this festively fun Frosty Cottage Pie today!



Careful use of an already cheaper cut of meat makes it even more of a bargain in the long run.  And what a fun way to use it up!   I guarantee nobody will be turning their noses up at these leftovers!



I have used pepper corns, roasted red pepper slices and frozen peas to dress up my "Frosty's!"   You will want to warn your children and husband or partner to remove the peppercorns prior to eating so that they don't eat something which they may find a bit too spicy, but what a delightful presentation for what is essentially leftovers.



I have photographed it prior to baking so you can see it at it's cutest, the peas do darken a bit upon baking, but it remains totally whimiscal and delightfully pleasing no matter the colour of the peas.  You can add a dusting of cheese on top if you wish as well.   If you are not into showmen, you can just pile the mashed potatoes on top and dust them with cheese prior to baking, but why not be a bit frivolous and take the extra time to make the snowmen, especially during this festive season! 

*Frosty Cottage Pie*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This recipe is just a bit of fun I came up with to use up the rest of my leftover roast from the other day.  It's deliciously festive!

3 cups chopped leftover roast beef

2 TBS olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and minced

1 TBS butter

3 TBS plain flour

1 1/2 cups of beef stock

1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 TBS tomato catsup
salt and pepper to taste

2 cups chopped leftover vegetables (or frozen if you have none leftover)

3 to 4 cups of leftover or fresh mashed potatoes

(If you are using leftover mash, use a couple of Tablespoons of sour cream
or milk to slacken the mixture a bit)

To decorate:

whole peppercorns

roasted pepper strips

thawed frozen peas

Heat the oven to 190*C/375*F.    Butter a round casserole dish.  Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently over medium heat to soften without colouring.  Stir in the garlic and cook for about a minute.   Add the butter and allow it to melt, then stir in the plain flour.  Cook for a further minute.  Add the beef stock and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to the boil and thickens somewhat.  If it is too thick you may add a bit more stock.  (Alternately, if you have leftover beef gravy, you may use that instead but you will need about 1 1/2 cups of it.)  Whisk in the Worcestershire Sauce, thyme and catsup.   Stir in the lefover meat and vegetables.  Heat through.   Taste and adjust seasoning as required.  Pour this mixture into the prepared casserole dish.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out the mashed potatoes into circles in the shape of a snowman on top of the hot meat mixture.   I used a regular sized ice cream scoop for the bottoms and a slightly smaller one for the tops.  It helps if you spray it with some non stick cooking spray first.  Use peppercorns to create eyes, pepper strips to make scarves and peas for the buttons.   

Bake in the heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until well heated and bubbly.   Serve hot.

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