Rusks are dry biscuits! Rusk originated in the Cape Colony (effectively South Africa) when occupied by the Dutch and stems from “biskuit” the Afrikaans from the French “biscuit”. Rusks are a traditional Afrikaner breakfast meal or snack. They have been made in South Africa since the late 1690s and are dried as a way of preserving for long journeys. Today’s rusks may seem to some to be leftovers from that original batch! Dunking is permitted
Anyway, this is the recipe that the Mashatu baker gave us many years ago…..
INGREDIENTS
Makes 36
1kg / 2lb 4oz – Self-raising flour
4 tsp – Baking powder
2 tsp – Salt
250g / 9oz – Margarine, chilled and chopped
675g / 1lb 8oz – Yellow sugar or soft brown sugar
225g / 8oz – Sunflower seeds
150g / 5oz – All-bran cereal, crushed
1 tsp – Aniseed
500ml / 18 fl oz – Buttermilk
125ml / 4 fl oz – Sunflower oil
2 – Eggs, beaten
A handful of raisins
METHOD
- Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4
- Mix together the self-raising flour, baking powder, salt and margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
- Add the sugar, sunflower seeds, crushed All-bran, raisins and aniseed
- In a bowl, mix together the buttermilk, sunflower oil and eggs
- Add the buttermilk/oil/egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to form a dough
- Use your hands to shape the dough into 15g / 3oz balls and place them closely together in two rows in loaf tins
- Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the dough comes out clean and the base sounds hollow when tapped
- Remove from the tin(s) and set aside to cool on a wire rack
- Separate the rusks and leave them to dry out completely in a very low oven oven set to 125°C / 250°F / Gas 1/2
- Allow the rusks to cool before storing them in a tin