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DAY 2 – RUSKS
Junk Status?! Has the World not tasted South African rusks?
If you were like me and your hand hovered over the rusks on the supermarket shelves and you thought ‘I’m going to have plenty of time to make some over the next 21 days’ so you bought flour instead (and I know you did because the flour shelf was empty!) It’s time to keep your lockdown resolution and make some.
This is my recipe and it changes every time I make it (depending on what bits and bobs I have at the back of my food cupboard). The basic ingredients are written below in bold (with alternatives in brackets, so you don’t need to panic if you don’t have everything) and there are some suggestions of yummy extras to add if you want to. I like to add cranberries and nuts but my kids like me to add nougat, chocolate chips and nuts (who wouldn’t!!!) so you can decide to split the batch and do different taste innovations for every member of your clan if you like!
I’ve created a batch for my family this morning and they are still happily anticipating eating them….and its past lunchtime! Be warned, rusks take a lot of cooking time. If you are clever you can start them in the afternoon and then leave them to dry with the oven closed and off over night. Rusks are super easy and well worth the effort and cost saving of making them yourself. Have a go. You’ve got 20 days to perfect them!
You’ll Need (makes 36 rusks so half quantity if you are on your own)
7 Cups Plain Flour
2 Cups Nutty Wheat or Stone Ground (Or you can just use another 2 cups of normal)
1 Cup Brown Sugar (or white)
Half a Cup of Honey (or golden syrup or if you don’t have then use more sugar)
15ml Baking Powder (if you used self-raising flour you don’t need this)
5ml Salt
5ml Cream of Tartar
7.5ml Bicarbonate of Soda
500ml Buttermilk or Plain Yogurt (could be a fruit yoghurt – never tried it but who knows!)
2 Large Eggs
500g Butter (I have used oil before as I’m gluten and dairy intolerant and it works)
Extras: Optional – Cranberries, Hazelnuts, Almonds, Macadamias, Raisins, Apricots, Chocolate, Nougat, Pumpkin Seeds (any seeds or nuts that you have) be creative.
Stage One
You need five bread tins, or you can use square or oblong casserole dishes.
Turn your oven on to 180 or a medium heat.
Put all the dry ingredients into a BIG mixing bowl and stir well
Melt the butter and put into a small mixing bowl with the wet ingredients and stir in the eggs.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well.
If you want to add extras such as nuts etc. split the batches (if you want different flavours) and add in and stir.
No need to grease the bread tins just put your dough in half way and press down evenly into the edges. I do mine in three bread tins and two sets of mini loaf tins (which are actually better if you have them)
Put them into the oven for 45mins – check once half way to change them about if they are cooking unevenly
Stage Two
Take bread tins out of the oven
Tip them out onto a big baking tray (the bigger the better, or use several)
Now remember what rusks are supposed to look like…now drop your expectations a little bit, especially if you have added in nuts. There will be breaking and some tempting big crumbs might be eaten accidentally at this stage!
Cut the loaves lengthways down the middle and then cut them at 1 inch intervals like the rusks you know and love. Try to cut missing the nuts.
Place the rusks upright with gaps so that they dry evenly in the oven. (I always put the more bulky ones at the edges and corner of the trays to give them more space to dry.
Pop the trays back in the oven now and turn the oven down to 100 degrees. Either bake them like this for 4 Hours, or alternatively bake them for 2 hours and then turn off the oven and leave them overnight. Store in an air tight container. Enjoy!
Archive
September 2020
April 2020 -
- - Walters Chocolate and Cranberry Florentines
- - Gilly’s Famous Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- - Gilly’s Moist Choc-A-Block Cake