Egg-free buttermilk rusks (eierlose karringmelk beskuit)

South Africans love buttermilk rusks (karringmelk beskuit), and for good reason too: the buttermilk gives it a lovely flavour, and because you use self-raising flour, they are easy to make at home. You can also use milk, if you add lemon juice or vinegar.

There is only one downside to eating buttermilk rusks: you need to time your dunk perfectly, if you don’t want the bottom half of your rusk to break off and sink to the bottom of your cup. These egg-free buttermilk rusks​ are denser, and therefore less likely to come apart and splash into your coffee. (Jaco can vouch for this, he’s got a whole container of egg-free rusks at work.)​

Makes 54 rusks.

Ingredients

  • 300 gram butter
  • 1½ cup (300 gram) sugar
  • 450 ml buttermilk
    or
    430ml full cream milk, plus 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice or vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
  • 1½ teaspoon (7.5 ml) cream of tartar
  • 1125 gram self-raising flour
  • Optional: 1 to 2 teaspoons (15 to 30 ml) anise seeds

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Place butter in a bowl and add the sugar. Microwave until the butter has melted.
  3. Add buttermilk – or, if you’re using normal milk, add the milk and lemon juice, and let it stand for 10 minutes until the milk curdles.  
  4. Add cream of tartar and salt, and stir well to dissolve.
  5. Add the self-raising flour, stir in, and knead lightly.
  6. Line a baking dish. A pan that measures 30 cm by 20 cm works well.
  7. Shape dough into 54 balls of about 40 g each, and pack them tightly into the dish (6 x 9 rows).
  8. Bake for about an hour, until done.
  9. Turn the oven down to 90°C.
  10. Tip the baked rusks onto a wire rack and let it cool down until you can handle it.
  11. Separate the rusks from each other. A fork is really useful for this.
  12. Place rusks on a baking tray. Return to the oven, and dry slowly at 90°C for about 8 hours.