Ode to the rusk

Rusks are quintessentially South African. A cup of rooibos or moerkoffie and one of these little fingers of dried cake (yes, that's pretty much what they are!) is enough to release an intense bout of nostalgia in most South Africans. And perhaps a grunt of disgust from foreigners; it seems the delight of dunking biscuits into a hot drink doesn't extend beyond our country's borders.

Personally, I love rusks for their ability to fill that after-breakfast-before-lunch hunger. Also, rusks just seem so... healthy. Condensed milk biscuits for breakfast? Never! Condensed milk rusks? Of course, because add 'rusk' to anything and the health value is upped tenfold.

My favourite rusk recipe, given to me by my mom-in-law, is (relatively) healthy. I generally use less sugar and add All Bran, sunflower seeds, coconut and chopped nuts, which really does up the health value.

You need:

-1250gr self-raising flour

- 500ml buttermilk

- 3 eggs

- 1tsp salt

- 2 cups sugar (I use about 1 cup and prefer to use brown sugar)

- 1tbsp baking powder

- 500gr butter

- Roughly 2 cups of All Bran, shredded coconut, nuts and seeds, as desired

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.

2. Melt butter

3. Mix eggs and buttermilk and add the melted butter.

4. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

5. Press the dough into a rusk or sheet pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on how deep your pan is).

6. Once baked through, slice loaves into rusks of desired size and place on 2 large baking trays.

7. Reduce oven temperature to 100°C.

8. Dry overnight and store in an airtight container.

Jeanine xxx

#proudlysouthafrican #rusks #coffee #snacktime