The seasons are shifting. My scratchy throat and the crisp breeze I feel early morning through midmorning daily completely confirm this. It’s time to get ahead of it now and reduce the struggle for everyone.
Get all the moi mois cleaned and on stand-by, move winter fashion closer to the front of the closets, find the missing sock in all the pairs and start processing winter meals. It is school break in about a week, so there’s that, because the kids are home they innately eat more. I love cooking over winter because the food is so comforting and warm.
Stews, beans, not forgetting two ingredient Nutriday dumplings, cinnamon buns, phaphatha enjoyed with a soup or hot cup of laager Rooibos tea. Winter has its palate perks. Personally, I will be taking Laager Rooibos tea and Chai more frequently during winter. Coffee will have to miss me this coming season although it is my guilty pleasure.
I recently had a heart to heart with my husband about getting our bodies healthy and perhaps it’s time I slowly cut away some things. Big emphasis on Sloooowly (lol).
This is also an opportune time to experiment with baking. First on my list is a lemon cake because our lemon tree is doing well and has a couple of ripe lemons I’ve asked the boys to harvest. I told them that I’ll be grateful to whoever does it first, and make sure their slice of cake is a teeny weeny bit bigger than the others.
Cake rusk is a crunchy dry biscuit and a popular teatime snack in India and Pakistan. Similar to biscotti, these crispy biscuits are perfect for dunking in your tea. Not your conventional or generic rusk, but does the trick either way. I decided I would give these a shot after feeling like my preparation took a left turn on me, and because I am not one to put anything to waste, I fast moved into contingency mode and here we are.
INGREDIENTS 120 ml plain Nutriday yoghurt 120 ml oil 3 cups cake flour 2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely granulated 3 large eggs 1 tablespoon baking powder 11/2sticks unsalted butter ¾ teaspoon salt 2 cups granulated sugar
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees 2. Butter a baking pan and place parchment paper. Butter and dust with flour the parchment paper.
3. Put 3 cups of flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. 4. In another bowl, mix the yogurt, lemon zest, oils, eggs, sugar. Add the dry ingredients gradually into the wet ingredients as you beat the mixture. 5. Pour the batter into the baking tin and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. 6. Take out the baking tin from the oven and turn it upside down on a cool surface. Allow the cake to cool.
RUSK INSTRUCTION Preheat oven to 150°c Place the cake strips on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Place the cake strips in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on the top. Turn the cake strips over, and bake for another 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Remove the cake rusk from the oven, and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cake rusk has cooled, it can be stored in an airtight container for around 2 weeks. Serve cake rusk with a hot cuppa tea.
