Melktert from South Africa

Melktert or Milk Tart is another South African classic.  When friends give you an hour or two's notice that they are popping around for coffee, there is nothing stopping you from quickly making this melktert and serving it warm when the coffee has finished percolating in the kitchen.  No South African tea or coffee party is complete without a melktert.  The traditional melktert has a crust of puff pastry, but as this is a spur of the moment type recipe, this is for a crustless melktert.

3 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs separated
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence
3 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.  Grease a pie dish.  Beat the egg whites until stiff and frothy and put to one side.  Now in another bowl mix together the melted butter, egg yolks and sugar.  Add in the flour, salt and baking powder and mix thoroughly.  Stir in the milk and vanilla essence and make sure that you get rid of any lumps.  Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites and pour the mixture into the greased pie dish that's ready and waiting.  Sprinkle the cinnamon on the top.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until the middle is firm to the touch.  Can be served cold or warm.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv, Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, Not Telling and Defective.  All her books are available from Amazon in both print and Kindle format.  http://cindyvine.com

Buttermilk Rusks from South Africa

The best way to wake up in the morning is if someone brings you a mug of coffee and a couple of buttermilk rusks.  And of course before you go to bed at night some hot chocolate or milo with a couple of buttermilk rusks.  If you are a tea drinker buttermilk rusks are great for dunking.

6 cups flour
250g margarine or butter
2 eggs beaten
6 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sugar
2 pinches salt
Add the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingers until it resembles bread crumbs.  Add the beaten eggs, mix it in then add the buttermilk a little at a time until you have a soft smooth dough.  Rather like a cookie dough.  Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius.  Grease a large baking pan.

Roll the rusk dough into golf ball-sized balls and place them next to each other in the pan.  Let this rest for 15 minutes before putting in the oven.  Bake for an hour.  Take out the oven and loosen the rusks.  Cut them in half and spread the rusks out on the baking tray.  Put them back in the oven so they can dry out.  It would be on a low heat of 100 degrees Celsius for 2-3 hours.
You can add in some cornflakes, raisins or muesli to your dough if you want to give them some added texture.
Dunk in your tea or coffee for an authentic South African experience.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv Ukraine.  She is the author of The Great Mountain to Mountain Safari, a travel diary about her drive from Kilimanjaro to Table Mountain at the foot of Africa and back again.  All her books are available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format.

Crunchies from South Africa

Along with buttermilk rusks, Crunchies are a classic South African sweet treat to enjoy with a cup of hot coffee or tea. This quick and easy recipe makes a healthy snack that is ideal to put in your kids’ school lunches.  You can leave out the dried apricot and raisins as that isn’t in the traditional recipe.  I just like to add it in to give my Crunchies something extra.  What I have also done in the past is add on a layer of melted chocolate after they’ve come out of the oven but that makes them too irresistible and not as healthy.

180g butter

2 cups oats

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of salt

Handful of raisins or sultanas

Handful of chopped dried apricots

Preheat the oven to 180 ºC.

Melt the butter and honey together.  Add the bicarbonate of soda and stir until it froths.  Add in the cinnamon, ginger, salt, raisins and dried apricots.  Mix in the rest of the dry ingredients.

Use the heel of your hand to flatten the mixture out on a greased baking tray.  Press down firmly so that it is quite compacted.  (If you make them as individual cookies then you have created Anzac cookies.)

Cook at 180ºC for 20-30 minutes.  Allow to cool a little and then cut into squares.  Only remove when completely hardened.

Cindy Vine is a South African author and teacher currently living in Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, The Colorful Art of Pain, Defective and The Case of Billy B.  All her books are available on Amazon in both kindle and print format.