Friday, October 1, 2010

Want the Rock Cake recipe Hagrid makes? Come take it! I mean bake it!


This treat, if the word may be applied to something Hagrid made, is often found in his pantry, as it is mentioned no less than three times in the Harry Potter series in relation to Hagrid. Although Hagrid's rock cakes were nothing to write home about, you'll find these are quite tasty (see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, chapter 8; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 3; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 11).

Rock cakes, standard with tea, look like but don't taste like rocks, unless of course you leave them out for days, which is probably what Hagrid did. Rock cakes have a short history and seem to have been invented by the Victorians



                              
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into chunks
1 large egg
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup raisins

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350* F and grease and flour a large cookie sheet. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl. With your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture reaches the consistency of wet sand.

2. Beat the egg together with the milk and pour it into the flour-butter mixture. Fold it together using a spatula until it forms a thick dough. Fold in the raisins. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 25 minutes or until the bottoms are golden, rotating the pan midway through baking.

~ makes 12

For rock hard cakes like Hagrid's, just bake them for too long and eat them a week later at your own risk!

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