OBAMA rocks! cakes

What an amazing US election result last night! To celebrate Obama's second term in office, I decided to make something with ingredients that spelled out OBAMA (a habit I've got into what with my ABC cake (Apple, Blueberry and Cinnamon), BMW bread (Banana, Mango and Walnut), and more recent BANG cake (Banana, Amaretto, Nut and Ginger)...). These started life as cookies but I soon realised that they tasted just like the rock cakes my mum used to make with us on Sunday afternoons as kids. So rather than flattening small scoops of the dough into cookie shapes, I instead dolloped big scoops onto the baking tray and left them to come out as rock cakes. I made one dough but split it into two batches before adding the different OBAMA fruit and nuts. The first batch contained Oats, Blueberries, Apple, Macadamia and Almonds. The second batch contained Oats, Banana, Apricot, Mango and Almonds. The result: OBAMA rocks! [cakes]

Ingredients (makes two batches)

8 oz butter, softened
12 oz golden caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk

2 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz self-raising flour
Pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp allspice

6 oz Oats

For Batch 1 add:

• 6 oz fresh Blueberries
• 2 oz dried Apple, chopped
• 1 oz whole Macadamia nuts, chopped
• 1 oz whole Almonds, chopped

For Batch 2 add:

• 2 oz dried Banana chips
• 2 oz dried Apricots, chopped
• 2 oz dried Mango, chopped
• 2 oz whole Almonds, chopped

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175°C.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Add the egg, milk and vanilla extract and beat until well mixed.
4. Sift in the flour, salt and baking powder, add the oats, and beat until a smooth dough is formed.
5. Divide the dough in half, transferring one half to a separate mixing bowl.
6. Fold in the fruit and nuts.
7. Scoop dollops of the mixture on to a non-stick baking sheet, leaving space between them to spread.
8. Bake for 15 mins until golden brown, rotating the tray once during baking.
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.