R is for Rusks

Some of you will now be in a very happy place thinking about rusks. In fact, I suggest that before you read any further you make a hot milky beverage of your choice to enjoy with a rusk while you read.

The rest of my readership will fall into the category of uninitiated in the way of the rusk and are probably thinking "why is she writing about baby teething biscuits that do nothing but cause a mess and turn to musk" right now.

Well, prepared to be enlightened.

Rusks are the anglicised term for beskuit a traditional biscuit in South Africa that you have for breakfast, they are designed for dunking...nay... soaking in your morning tea or coffee.  You definitely cannot eat them dry or you are likely to break a tooth and that will really spoil your day. Of course you don't just have to keep them for breakfast either, they are great as a snack with a hot drink any time of the day,

So why am I eating rusks? Well, here comes a bit of background for those that don't know me so well.. my dear husband is from South Africa I have been enjoying rusks for a good 6 years now, and whilst you can buy the big brand Ouma Rusks over here in the UK they are massively marked up so they became a bit of a treat that we would always bring some back after a trip or visiting family would cram packs into their suitcases.

But then I realised that actually, maybe it was time it was only after our visit in December 2013 that I decided to step out, be brave, and make my own.  And you may not think it, but it is a big deal as the rusks that we buy when in South Africa aren't a mass produced product but something that a ladies bake up at home and sell at the local corner shops to supplement their income and they are faultless...and delicious...and when they hold such a central place in your families heart, trying to replicate them is quite a daunting task.


But what is a rusk in baking terms? Essentially they are is a bread based dough that is baked twice so in a way very similar to biscotti.  Some recipes call for yeast, some don't. It really is totally dependant on the type of rusk you are after. Once you make and prove the dough you separate it into balls, pack it into a tin and bake. Once baked you tear the pieces apart and put them back into the oven at a very low temperature to dry out (preferably overnight)

So I returned home with a few cut out recipes from magazines as well as looking up a few online recipes to see what they had to say and then every Sunday for about 4 weeks, I made rusks.

Now some batches were much more successful than others, the one I tried to make with yeast was alright but possibly in trying to be clever and cook it in my large square stone baker it didn;t quite work. I should have rather used several smaller loaf tins so the dough in the middle wasn't undercooked...if they were judged on Great British Bake Off they would definitely get the Paul Hollywood prod of disaprovement.  I also used 100% whole wheat flour in an attempt to make it healthier but that also didn't quite work. In subsequent batches I still used it but only as 30 or 40 % to plain white flour.

I then moved on to the more breakfast type rusks, the ones where one or two will set you up for the morning but a third would just be too much. With these I really could go to town on what when in; seeds, ground nuts (like almond and coconut which in turn reduced the wheat content), museli. They were also a simpler bake as there was no proving to do it was very much a case of mix the wet and dry ingredients together and bake. These proved to be much closer to the ones that we bought when in South Africa and are still my favorite ones to make, the recipe was from another blog called Under the Blue Gum Tree and I highly recommend following the link if you want to try it.

 Due to our moving house in March I started packing up the kitchen in late February so my weekly stashes of rusks came to an end.  I also have to admit to getting a little frustrated with my Little Giant as he had just started walking and had a tendency to like turning the oven temperature knob....so two batches instead of "drying" actually got baked to a crisp and burnt raisins are really not nice.  Thankfully the oven in our new kitchen is higher and I also have a baby gate to keep the Two Monkeys out while I am cooking so I really have no excuses not to start making them again.

So put away your Rich Teas (or Marie Biscuits), hide the Hobnobs and ditch the Digestives, when it comes to dunking biscuits in your tea or coffee...you need rusks in your life.  I know that writing today's post has made me quite hungry for some so I am making sure the ingredients have gone down on my shopping list for this weekend!