recipes from Southern Africa: Buttermilk Rusks

Ingredients

• 375g butter
• 500g sugar
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1,5kg self-raising flour
• 30ml (2 tablespoons) baking powder
• 500ml (2 cups) buttermilk or plain drinking yogurt
  

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Cream the butter and sugar together very well
3. Add the eggs, one at a time
4. Mix the flour and baking powder together, and add this to the creamed mixture, using a fork to mix
5. Add the buttermilk or yogurt, using a little milk to rinse out the carton
6. Mix well with a fork and then knead lightly
7. Pack lightly rolled, golf ball sized buns of the dough into the greased bread pans close together, and bake for 45-55 minutes. Place the pans in the middle of the oven, with a sheet of brown paper on the top shelf to protect the buns from becoming browned too quickly
8. Remove the paper after the buns are well risen and cooked through, to brown the tops. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting
9. Turn out the buns on to cake racks, cool them and separate them, using 2 forks. Pack them on wire racks or on cooled oven racks – air must circulate. Place them in the cool oven, leaving the door ajar, for 4-5 hours, or overnight, to dry out

If no buttermilk or yogurt is available, use fresh milk curdled with lemon juice or white vinegar.

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