All South Africans know what a Rusk is - but the rest of the world will not know about this proudly South African invention . Morning coffee just aint the same without dipping one of these hard crunchy Rusks into that cup of coffee.
What is a Rusk - a kind of dried biscuit, almost like a biscotti, but not quite; filled with good ingredients like bran, oats, wholemeal flour, raisins, nuts, seeds and buttermilk.
I'm not a morning person at all, so often will grab one or two Rusks - or Beskuit as we call it in Afrikaans, and enjoy it with a strong cup of dark roast plunger coffee or a cappuchino, and breakfast is sorted. Especially great when one is rushing off to work or to a meeting.
A rusk is double baked - usually a sweetish yeast bake which is sliced after baking and placed in a very low oven to dry out, almost like biscotti, but not as sweet.
There are many other versions using baking powder or soda with the addition of Buttermilk - Breakfast Health Rusks being very popular with the addition of bran or muesli, wholemeal flour, seeds and raisins or plain Buttermilk Rusks - nice with the addition of aniseed and raisins although some prefer them plain.
The origin of Rusks in South Africa goes right back to 1690 when bread was sliced and dried in ovens to preserve it without refrigeration during travelling.
The beauty of Rusks is that one can store them in airtight containers for a long while, just like cookies.
I will show you how to make Fruity Aniseed Buttermilk Rusks.
Ingredients:
- 1kg Self Raising Cake Wheat Flour
- 5ml Salt
- 7ml Baking Powder
- 375ml Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Aniseed
- 250ml Raisins
- 250g Butter - softened
- 500ml Buttermilk
- 2 Eggs, beaten
Method:
- Sift dry ingredients together.
- Rub in the butter till it resembles fine crumbs.
- Add sugar, aniseed & raisins and mix well, make a well in the centre.
- Beat buttermilk and eggs together and pour into well.
- Mix to a softish scone like dough - do not overmix.
- Divide between two 20cm pans (sprayed with non stick cooking spray)
- Bake at 170 C fan oven for about 45 minutes.
- Cool completely on wire racks.
- Slice fairly thin and place on baking sheet.
- Dry out in 100 C fan oven for approx 4-5 hours, checking after four hours if it's completely dry.
- Leave in oven till absolutely cool, pack into airtight containers and enjoy dunking your very own homebaked rusks.
As you saw, this is a lengthy process. Oumas (Grannies) usually make rusks, a loving task requiring much patience, but really so worth it as the taste is far superior to the store bought variety.
Should you ever visit South Africa, try and find a home industries shop where a co-operative of home cooks sell their home baked goods; you're guaranteed to find genuine Rusks there.
A quick look at the whole process:
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