Over the past few years our little family have drastically reduced the amount of sugar and processed foods we use to eat. Switching to healthier cost-effective alternatives, preferring home cooked and baked above take-out and restaurant food.
Whilst we are spoilt for choice with rusk options in our stores, most are loaded with sugars and at the rate that teenagers can finish a box of rusks the healthier options just break the bank.
Baking is a bit of a science and perfecting a rusk recipe requires an added dose of love! It took me almost a year and 2020 lockdown to perfect this recipe. I do not know how our great grandmothers did it without all the fancy equipment we have today.
If you are going to buy a rusk pan and cutter, be sure to get a set that comes with two pans. I bake a double batch, totaling 120 rusks at a time. Bulk rusk baking saves on electricity and reduces the overall cost per rusk. Yes, if you shop wisely and bake in bulk, your cost per rusk should be roughly 50% less than the average shop bought rusks.
Whilst you can certainly make these rusks without all the equipment, you will need some serious muscle to work the dough. The right equipment saves time and makes life a bit easier.
The recipe is versatile especially if your love some flavour flair alternatives. I like to replace a cup of the crushed All Bran with a cup of Muesli. Also adding some aromatic spices, fruit and nuts give the rusks a lovely warm flavour. The Apple Cinnamon and Fruit Cake Breakfast Rusk variations are great gifts especially around Christmas time. (Be sure to watch the video to the end for the variant recipes)
I prefer to dry my rusks out longer on a lower heat setting. 80ֻ°C for 7 hours works best for my oven. You can dry it out on 100°C for about 5 hours, just be careful not to over dry them. Rusks can get a burnt aftertaste or be too hard.
Butter is crazy expensive; seriously why would anyone pay almost R80 for a block of butter! I love using butter in my rusks when it is on special, alternatively a 70% fat spread (I like Cordon Blue) works and taste great.
Most rusk recipes require 2-3 cups of sugar, which is just way too sweet for my taste buds and a recipe for an instant headache. One (slightly) heaped cup of (brown) sugar is the perfect balance to keep all my family taste preferences happy.
Amasi (Full Cream Maas) is fantastic in any recipe that requires yoghurt or buttermilk. It is much cheaper, with a longer shelf life thus my go to for breads and cakes.
Baking rusks is a labour of love and a memory that I hope my children will cherish.
Happy Baking! Enjoy.
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