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New
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Year 3

Making rock cakes

I can make rock cakes.

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New
New
Year 3

Making rock cakes

I can make rock cakes.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Rock cakes are from Britain and traditionally eaten at teatime. They were promoted in World War II due to rationing.
  2. The food skills used to make rock cakes are measuring, rubbing-in, mixing, cracking an egg, and portioning.
  3. Some mixtures need to be divided into equal sized portions, so that they cook evenly.
  4. Ovens are very hot. Dishes must be placed in and taken out while wearing oven gloves.

Keywords

  • Rationing - a fixed amount of food per person

  • Dividing - to split a mixture equally

  • Rubbing-in - to rub butter into flour

  • Oven - part of a cooker, used to bake or roast foods

Common misconception

The dried fruit in rock cakes counts towards our 5 A DAY.

The dried fruit does not count towards our 5 A DAY, as it is in small amounts. Rock cakes are sweet foods, containing sugar and fat. We need to eat less of these types of foods.


To help you plan your year 3 cooking and nutrition lesson on: Making rock cakes, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

If it is not practical for pupils to weigh the ingredients, provide them pre-weighed. Some pupils could be selected for the task, showing others how to weigh accurately.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

For ingredients and equipment see the recipe in Additional materials.

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Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - may contain allergens
  • Risk assessment required - equipment
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
True or false? Rock cakes got their name because they used to have rocks in them.
True
Correct answer: False
Q2.
What do you use to cook cakes?
the fridge
the toaster
Correct answer: the oven
Q3.
What is this?
An image in a quiz
measuring jug
Correct answer: weighing scales
weighing cups
Q4.
Rock cakes are made from flour. Which plant do we use to make flour?
grass
corn
Correct answer: wheat
Q5.
Before cooking, we should put on a clean .
Correct Answer: apron, pinny, tabard
Q6.
Match the foods to what you would use to measure them.
Correct Answer:water, milk and juice,measuring jug
tick

measuring jug

Correct Answer:herbs, spices and oil,measuring spoons
tick

measuring spoons

Correct Answer:flour, rice and couscous,weighing scales
tick

weighing scales

5 Questions

Q1.
True of false? The dried fruit in rock cakes counts towards our 5 A DAY.
True
Correct answer: False
Q2.
helped to ensure everyone had a fair share of food at a time of shortage.
Correct Answer: Rationing, ration, rationing
Q3.
Which foods are baked or roasted in an oven?
Correct Answer:baked,bread and pies
tick

bread and pies

Correct Answer:roasted,chicken and potatoes
tick

chicken and potatoes

Q4.
What food skill is being shown here?
An image in a quiz
weighing
dividing
Correct answer: rubbing-in
Q5.
Why did we divide the rock cakes?
Correct answer: Dividing helps the rock cakes to cook evenly.
Dividing helps the rock cakes to cool quickly.
Dividing helps the rock cakes to cook faster.

Additional material

Download additional material