Hagrid's Pumpkin Patch Rock Cakes

Happy Hallowe’en! To celebrate this occasion, I, along with some fellow Food Bloggers, decided to create a dinner party fit for the season. We created a lovely themed Harry Potter feast that would put the food served at Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington’s Death Day to shame (although, really, any food would do so). My contribution? Hagrid’s Pumpkin Patch Rock Cakes!

These Rock Cakes aren’t just any Rock Cakes. I wanted to jazz them up a bit and decided to pull other elements from Harry Potter into play. Instead of using nuts or dried fruit, I chose to make them pumpkin flavoured with a spiced pumpkin icing to incorporate the best of the season. I mean, Hagrid did lovingly care for his pumpkin patch so who is to say he never tired pumpkin rock cakes himself?

While the joke in the books is that Hagrid’s Rock Cakes were literally as hard as a rock (poor Ron!), these cakes won’t break a tooth. They are a tad dense and more closer to scones than cakes (or rocks, for that matter). Personally, I like to stay true to their purpose and serve them as a tea time treat, with a strong dark English Breakfast.

The truth is that Rock Cakes, as they are, are kind of bland and uninspiring (but not my pumpkin version, I promise). Upon joining this collaboration, I was under the impression that Rock Cakes were one of the many foods J.K Rowling came-up with to form her Harry Potter world. As it turns out, Rock Cakes are actually a often served team time snack in Britain! They also aren’t hard as a rock…. that was a joke from the books that few right over my head for many years! Rock Cakes rose in popularity during WWII, as the government actually promoted them as an alternative to scones. Why? They were dirt cheap to make due to them requiring little eggs and sugar, which were rationed pantry staples at the time. After reading this I had to laugh at myself. I *would* gravitate to the budget snacks, wouldn’t I?

Hagrid’s Pumpkin Patch Rock Cakes

Rock Cake Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin puree

Pumpkin Icing Ingredients:

1 cup icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon milk

Method:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
In a medium bowl, cream remaining rock cake ingredients. Add to dry mixture and bring together. Do not over mix!
Using a tablespoon, drop mixture onto cookie sheet. Rock cakes should have a rough texture and uneven surface. Dough will yield 12 small cookie-sized cakes.
Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Once cooked, remove to cool on wire rack. Cakes will harden.
While cakes cool, mix all icing ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. Pipe onto cakes using icing piping gear or (as I did) a plastic snack bag with the corner cut off. Serve with tea!

Yields 12 Rock Cakes.