Something lacking

“Across the veld were those hills of the Klein Karoo, rolling up and dipping down like waves. On and on, like a still and stony sea. I picked up my melktert and bit off a mouthful. It was good, the vanilla, milk and cinnamon working together to make that perfect comforting taste.”

Recipes for Love and Murder: A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew

Recipes. Hmmm.

I don’t fit into normal size clothes, I’m told by my Hubby that I ‘always’ make changes to an item I order on a menu. And though I can cook well (I’d say) and can improvise a pretty tasty meal out of random leftovers in the fridge, I’ve never been able to strictly follow a recipe, without some degree of substitution.

I’ve leave the baking to real experts – my sister-in-law, my mother, CharliesBird, la boulangerie, Phyls Kitchen rusks.

This is why I do not bake.

That is, until today…

Today I baked a batch of health rusks for the first time ever unsupervised!

The result?

Good weight. Good texture. Great dip-ability. Healthy ingredients. Smells and looks delicious. But … lacking in sugar – I seriously held back on the sugar and you can taste it.

Pretty much the story of lockdown so far. We are healthy. We have a roof over our heads. We have a warm bed to sleep in. We are eating well, wearing masks in enclosed spaces, exercising, getting on with work and chores. There’s just some essential flavour missing …

For one this, I’m missing my people. Virtual people are not quite the same.

Here’s to a brave new richly-flavoured world in some weeks (amounting to hopefully not too many months) time.

SMALL PRINT:
P.s. They may be low sugar, but they contain 500ml of butter. Decadent.
P.p.s. Hubby and I seriously reduced our sugar intake 18 months ago when he decided to lose weight. We’ve used to low sugar now. He assures me that my rusks are great. #stillcouldhavedonewithmoresugar
P.p.p.s. My rusks do not compare to the luxury produce made by our foody-friend Auds. But we do now have a good supply.
P.p.p.p.s. For my non-SA readers, a rusk is the South African answer to biscotti.
P.p.p.p.p.s. The nifty rusk tray with cutter was a gift from my Mama, which I’ve finally now used. Thanks Mama!
P.p.p.p.p.p.s. This rusk recipe is our family recipe. We call it ‘Nan’s Rusks’. Nan is my maternal grandfather’s sister. The partial rusk sugar-failure is user, not recipe, related.