South African Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe

Biscuits in South Africa are part of the cultural identity, one of the things that exiles long for in a foreign land. Children are raised on Rooibos tea (an herbal tea) and biscuits. These aren’t the pale, soggy affairs that pass for scones in the UK: Farleys scones given to teething babies are guaranteed to coat your whole house in a gooey paste. South African rusks have a bread-and-cake texture, with extra bits of raisins or nuts, baked hard, so they need to be steeped in tea or chewed slowly. They last a long time in an airtight container, so they are baked in large batches, but they still don’t last very long in our house.

As an English woman married to a South African living in London, I came across cupcakes on our visits to his family and was instantly converted. The ‘Bruscos de Ouma’ are the famous ones that come in several varieties and we always came home with a few packages in the suitcase. On a longer visit to a country house in Philadelphia, near Cape Town, I found a recipe for baking my own cupcakes, tried it out, and have been baking them every two weeks ever since.

When our son was a toddler who woke up at 5:30 every morning, the only thing that made the morning bearable was the thought of tea and biscuits. Our son got an early start on them and our couch became a nest of cushions and crumbs. The first thing he helped bake were sponge cakes and I always had my patience tested as the mixture became the scene of excavations with bulldozers or a castle with a moat. The girls also joined in when they were old enough, so for a while I had three boys who were struggling to get their hands in the dough. Now the youngest is adept at making the right size balls, and I have a group of helpful helpers. So cupcakes have also become part of our family culture, my kids may have missed out on the rooibos tea tradition (I love it, they hate it), but at least they were properly educated regarding cupcakes!

Several friends in London fell in love, asked for the recipe and started baking and it has since spread as far afield as Pakistan and the US.

The recipe:

South African Buttermilk Biscuits

1.240kg / 2lb12oz flour (I use 1kg wholemeal and the rest white)

2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 teaspoons of salt

250g / 9oz butter

½ cup of grapes (optional)

2 eggs

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup of oil

(1 cup = 250ml)

Preheat oven to 190C/380F

Grease three approximately 20cm x 10cm / 8″ x 4″ base loaf pans or any deep baking dish combination that adds up to about the same.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes and rub with the flour. Add the grapes if you are using them. You can also experiment with various nuts and seeds, although the biscuits are just as good on their own.

In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sugar, eggs, and oil and beat until well combined. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix, then knead until you have a firm dough.

Form ping-pong ball-sized balls of dough and pack firmly in one layer into loaf pans. I usually get six rows of three in each of my cans. Bake for 45 minutes.

Flip out onto a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes before breaking into individual biscuits along the seams of the balls. Dry in an oven under 100C/200F for 4-5 hours until the center is completely dry. These can be stored for years in an airtight container.

Warning: guaranteed crumbs on the sofa, in the bed, on the carpet and in the car seats!

Copyright 2006 Kit Heathcock