Angela Day
Here are tips for making the perfect rusks.
* When adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, it may be necessary to add a little more liquid, in which case you can use water or milk.
* You can either form the mixture into balls and pack them into baking trays or press the whole mixture into an oven tray and then cut it into the desired shape after it has baked.
* I found that if the baked rusk mixture is well cooled before you cut it into the desired shape, you have less waste from crumbling while slicing.
* Using an electric knife makes slicing rusks much easier.
* If you form the mixture into balls and pack them into trays, use a sharp serrated knife to cut the rusks after baking in the pan before removing. This helps the shape stay more uniform.
APPLE AND PECAN RUSKS
Makes 50-60
1kg bran rich self-raising flour
15ml baking powder
250ml light brown sugar
125g dried apple, chopped
250ml desiccated coconut
100g pecan nuts, chopped
3 eggs, beaten
350g butter, melted
500ml buttermilk
Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, apple, coconut and pecans in a large bowl and mix well.
Combine the eggs, melted butter and buttermilk and mix.
Add to the dry ingredients and mix to form a stiff dough.
Press the dough into well-greased 30-40cm oven pan. Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the pan comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 20 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.
Cut into slices widthwise then cut the slices into chunks.
Turn the oven down to 50°C. Return the rusks to the oven to dry out overnight.
Pack into airtight containers to store.
BRAN RUSKS
Makes 50-60
1kg self-raising flour
15ml baking powder
5ml salt
250ml light brown sugar
300g bran flake cereal
250g butter, melted
250ml sunflower oil
3 eggs, beaten
500ml buttermilk
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cereal and mix well.
Combine the butter, oil, eggs and buttermilk and mix well.
Add to the dry ingredients and mix to a stiff dough.
Press the mixture into a well-greased 30x40ml oven tray.
Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the mixture comes out clean.
Remove and cool in the tin.
Turn out and cut into the desired shape.
Place on a baking tray and dry out in the oven at 50°C for 6-8 hours.
Store in an airtight container.
LOW-GI RUSKS
Makes 50-60
1kg bran rich self-raising flour
15ml baking powder
5ml salt
250ml oat bran
500ml bran flake cereal
250ml mixed seeds
250ml xylitol
100g dried cranberries, chopped (optional)
500g plain yoghurt
300g butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, oat bran, bran cereal, seeds, xylitol and cranberries in a bowl and mix well.
Combine the yoghurt, melted butter and eggs and mix well. Add to the dry ingredients using a little extra water if necessary to make a stiff dough.
Press the dough into a well-greased 30x40cm deep oven-roasting tray.
Bake at 180ºC for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the mixture comes out clean.
Remove and cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cut into the desired size. Place on a baking tray and return to the oven at 50°C to dry out overnight. Store in an airtight container.
BUTTERMILK RUSKS
Makes about 60
1kg self-raising flour
10ml baking powder
5ml salt
500ml light brown sugar
15ml aniseed
300g butter, melted
4 eggs
500ml buttermilk
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl.
Stir in the aniseed.
Combine the butter, eggs and buttermilk, and mix well.
Add to the dry ingredients and mix to form a stiff dough. Press the dough into a 30x40cm greased deep roasting tin.
Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of the pan comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cut into slices widthwise then cut the slices into chunks. Place on a flat baking tray and return to the oven at 50°C to dry out overnight.
Store in an airtight container.
GLUTEN-FREE RUSKS
Makes 50-60
500ml brown rice flour
500ml gluten-free flour mix
250g butter, cubed
20ml baking powder
100g ground almonds
60ml psyllium husks
60ml fat-free milk powder
250ml desiccated coconut
100g sesame seeds
5ml salt
375ml light brown sugar
500g Greek yoghurt
4 eggs
Combine the brown rice flour and gluten-free flour mix in a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add in the baking powder, almonds, psyllium husks, milk powder, coconut, sesame seeds, salt and sugar and mix well.
Combine the yoghurt and eggs and mix well.
Add to the dry ingredients and mix to form a stiff batter.
Spoon the batter into a greased 30x40cm oven tray.
Use wet hands to smooth the top.
Bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the mixture comes out clean.
Cool in the pan.
Turn out and cut into desired shape.
Place on a baking tray.
Turn the oven down to 50°C and dry out the rusks for 6-8 hours.
Store in an airtight container.
* The Angela Day cookery column is published in The Star, the Cape Argus, the Daily News and the Pretoria News.