Rock Cakes

Rock Cakes

One of the first methods of cake making you learn in Home Ec classes here in the Caribbean is the Rubbed-In Method. Rock cakes and thimble cookies, if I recall correctly. Sometime late last year I suddenly felt nostalgic and decided to whip up a batch. 

For something I hadn't made in years, they came out nicely. Quick to make and you get a lot for a little.  Tasty and fittting easily into small hands, this is nice snack for children (just be sure to balance the sweet snacks with the fruit!). See recipe below.

Tips

Invest in a good a pastry cutter to rub the fat into the flour. This tool can be used for any rubbed-in recipe, including pastry. If you are using your fingers for this then take care to only use the fingertips. The fingertips are cooler than the palm and the rest of the hand. The butter is less likely to melt on you.

INGREDIENTS

200g self-raising flour
100g margarine (or butter), cut into small pieces
100g sugar
100g raisins/cherries/currants, coarsely chopped
2 small eggs, beaten
pinch of spice/cinnamon/all spice/chinese five spice

METHOD

1. Sift the flour and spice together (I always sift three (3) times. Always.)
2. Rub the margarine (or butter) into the flour, using a pastry cutter or the tips of your fingers. The mixture should look a lot like breadcrumbs. No large chunks of margarine (butter) remaining.
3. Add the sugar and the dried fruit. 
4. Mix in enough of the egg to give you get a firm mixture. If it is too stiff after you add all of the egg, add a few drops of milk till you get the right consistency. The mix should maintain its shape stiffly, when dropped from a spoon.
5. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture, approximately two (2) tbsp in size, onto a prepared cookie sheet (well greased or lined with silicone or baking paper). Don't smooth the tops, the cakes should resemble rough little rocks. Keep cakes about 2 inches apart. But the mix should be stiff enough that the cakes don't spread much on baking.
6. Bake at 350F (180C), half-way down the oven for 10-15 minutes.
7. Remove the rock cakes when done and cool on a wire rack.

These store well in an air-tight container, in the refridgerator.

Mauby Part 1

What is Mauby?

A drink made from an extract of mauby bark. On its own the extract is very bitter with a unique flavour. (NB: It does not taste like root beer.)

Mauby (drink)

In Barbados, we make mauby by diluting a small amount of the extract with water and adding sugar to taste. Some, strong of constitution, will even have it unsweetened! Several local companies make a ready-made mauby syrup, to which you just add water.

In this two-part series of posts I will give you some background on mauby and how it is used in Barbados and the Caribbean. The first post will be about the origins of mauby, the recipe for making the extract and drink  and some of the local tradition. Part 2 will probably be about how other countries in the Caribbean make the drink and any other interesting tibbits I can find.

 Mauby Bark

Leaves and fruit of the Mauby Tree (Colubrina elliptica)
Source: http://eol.org/pages/582433/overview

Mauby comes from a type of Buckthorn tree called Soldierwood or Mabi. Latin name: colubrina elliptica. It is typically found across the Caribbean and Latin America. It is ironic that mauby is so much a part of Bajan culture- as far as I can find, the tree doesn't grow here.

The drink is actually made from an extract of the dried bark of the tree. It comes in large shavings, that look a bit like cinnamon bark, but it is a much darker brown. We take a handful of bark shavings and boil it in water with spices to create the extract. I'm calling it an extract because that is technically what it is. But in Barbados we just call the extract mauby or mauby bitters.

The Mauby Seller is a part of the Barbados tradition that isn't seen anymore. These were roving sellers, often women, who sold mauby to anyone who wanted a drink. My father remembers a price of 4 cents for a tot. A tot being a drinking utensil made from an empty tin can. This was the middle of the last century.

The Mauby Seller would travel from place to place on foot, with the large can of mauby balanced on her head. They dispensed the drink by reaching up, turning on the spigot on the can on their head and allowing the liquid to flow into a tot held below- never removing the can from their heads. And never spilling a drop. The distance that the liquid had to travel meant that the mauby got a good "head" on it i.e. frothy top, rather like what happens with beer. My grandmother used to make mauby and then pour it back and forth between two glasses- just to recreate the "head" effect.

Tradition also holds that some sellers had a skull in their cans! The superstition was that this would help drive sales. However, I don't think this ever stopped people from buying the mauby.

Mauby Bitters (Mauby Extract)

INGREDIENTS

Mauby Bark (dark brown shavings) and Cinnamon (light brown)

• 5 cups of cold water approx.
• 2 oz mauby bark approx.
• a large stick of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of sugar (optional)

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.

2. Allow to boil for one (1) hour.
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

4. Strain the extract into a clean bottle or jar and store in the refrigerator.

Mauby Drink

INGREDIENTS

4 cups cold water

2-4 tbsp mauby bitters per each cup of water

Sugar to taste

METHOD

1. Add some of the mauby bitters, and sugar to the cold water and stir to mix thoroughly. Start with a small amount.

2. Taste. Add more bitters and/or sugar to suit your preference. The bitter and sweet should be well balanced.

3. Place in fridge or freezer to chill. Best served ICE-COLD.