• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • recipes
    • baking
    • mid-week meals
    • time-worn tucker
    • entertaining
    • kid-friendly feeds
  • Latest Posts
  • About Me
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My account

Cooker and a Looker - Australian Home Cooking

  • Home
  • recipes
    • baking
    • mid-week meals
    • time-worn tucker
    • entertaining
    • kid-friendly feeds
  • Latest Posts
  • About Me
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My account
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Latest Post
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Work with me
  • About Me
    • Email
  • ×

    Home » recipes » baking

    By Amanda Smyth 9 Comments

    fat rascals, purple leopard skin + a time-share cardigan

    Share20
    Pin
    20 Shares

    During our uni years, my mate Chantal and I had a Friday night ritual.  When we weren't working for a functions company, we’d get tarted up and head into town.   We’d start the night with one drink at a fancy establishment – the Hilton Piano Bar was a favourite destination.  We’d swan in and pretend we were flush.  We'd sip a single cocktail in salubrious surroundings and then head to a pub, where the beers seemed practically free by comparison.  The following morning, we’d be forced to have a medicinal yum cha breakfast  when we headed back into town to claim whichever car we’d left in a vacant lot.

    During these years, a designer purple leopard skin number that I’d found at a Stones Corner outlet got a lot of air play.  We loved that outfit.

    Chantal rocking the purple leopard skin at my 21st
    Chantal rocking our time share at my 21st

    Today marks a year since Chantal moved across the globe to her shiny Senior Lecturer role.  In honour of this auspicious occasion, I baked something from her adopted home.  Ladies and Gentlemen, let's raise a fat rascal to absent friends!fat rascals, baking, cut glass, rock cakes, turf cakes, Yorkshire recipes, time-worn tucker, Cooker and a Looker

    fat rascals

    Ingredients:

    230g self raising flour
    ½ teaspoon salt
    115g lard
    zest of half an orange
    90g caster sugar
    60g currants
    30g sultanas
    1 egg, beaten
    milk, to mix

    Method:

    Preheat the oven to 210°C.  Sift flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the lard until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  You can use a food processor for this step – faster and less mess.  Stir in the sugar, zest, currants and sultanas and mix into a soft dough with the beaten egg.  Add a little milk to get the dough to come together if necessary, but I didn't need to.

    Transfer onto a lightly floured surface, press out to ½ inch thick and cut into 6cm rounds with a glass or scone cutter.  Place onto a greased baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes until golden.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Eat fresh with cream or butter.

    This recipe makes about a dozen.  I can say this with confidence, because I didn't sample any of the raw dough.  Cooking with lard really discourages one from tucking into the uncooked mix.  The baked result is like mix between rock cakes and scones.

    fat rascal eating fat rascal
    They were a hit with my littlest rascal

    For old times sake, Chantal and I recently entered into a shared custody arrangement of a cardigan.  She’ll wear it for half the year, photographing herself in exotic European locals, and I'll snap selfies of myself sporting it at the Caboolture Markets and the other fancy establishments I haunt now.

    have you ever time-shared clothing?

    did you have a ritual in your footloose Friday nights?

    do you have a soft spot for fat rascals?

     

    Share20
    Pin
    20 Shares
    « spicy soup + loaded lyrics
    okonomiyaki, (almost) banged up abroad + a recipe for what you want »

    NEVER MISS A RECIPE!

    Sign up and be the first to receive new recipes straight from my oven to your inbox.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. BOYEATSWORLD says

      June 07, 2013 at 12:46 pm

      Yum. I could go some of those Fat rascals with my tea right now. Can I order a dozen? 😉

      Reply
      • Amanda, Cooker and a Looker says

        June 07, 2013 at 6:15 pm

        Sure thing - I'll happily post you all of my fat rascals today!

        Reply
    2. Anne @ Domesblissity says

      June 07, 2013 at 10:32 pm

      They look good Amanda. Each decade had a different ritual, dependent on who my partner in crime was. Friday night was definitely the night for drinking and partying though. xx

      Reply
      • Amanda, Cooker and a Looker says

        June 08, 2013 at 9:47 pm

        Apparently Saturday night is now the time to sip a glass of water and reply to blog comments Anne. How times change!

        Reply
    3. Seana - Sydney, Kids, Food + Travel says

      June 08, 2013 at 9:29 pm

      I have never, ever heard of a fat rascal before, except the human kind of course, and they are fairly rare. Must it be lard? Could butter be used instead? Love the time share clothes idea!

      Reply
      • Amanda, Cooker and a Looker says

        June 08, 2013 at 9:44 pm

        You could substitute butter easily Seana, with the added bonus that you could sample the raw dough! 🙂

        Reply
    4. Have a laugh on me says

      June 09, 2013 at 12:37 pm

      What a great idea to time share an item of clothing and take pics. You're still a hottie after all these years A 🙂

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. the world is still a good place, the 2/1/14 edition - Cooker and a Looker says:
      at

      […] saw in the new year with family and a girlfriend I haven’t seen since she moved across the world.  The girls watched the 8.30pm fireworks, then went to sleep like angels.  Mum’s birthday […]

      Reply
    2. lard is on the air | lard pastry + pinch me moments - Cooker and a Looker says:
      at

      […] may have been surprised to hear me declare a love of lard.  I first used lard when making these olde English fat rascals.  Last week, I used it in pastry and the result was […]

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Footer

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • find new recipes
    • buy the book
    • download free printables

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions

    Contact

    • Contact
    • About Me
    • Latest Post
    • Shop

    Copyright © 2021 Cooker and a Looker

     

    Loading Comments...