Hey, rusk dunkers! Today we’re rolling up our sleeves for a South African classic—aniseed rusks, the kind that make your morning cuppa feel like a warm hug. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Lila, are these mosbolletjies?” Well, not quite. I’m skipping the “soetmos” (grape must) because, let’s be honest, unless you’re living on a vineyard or it’s grape harvest season, that stuff is harder to find than a clean teaspoon in my kitchen.
Aniseed Rusks are the next best thing to Mosbolletjies (No Grapes Required!)
If you are looking for a “Soetmos” (grape must) recipe then here it is. Just google translate for those who aren’t Afrikaans: Johan se Druiwe en Soetmos Recipe
But don’t worry, I’ve got a clever little shortcut: instant yeast! So, while we can’t call these beauties mosbolletjies (the grape must is what gives them their name and unique sweetness), we’re still getting that fluffy, aromatic, aniseed-studded magic. Let’s bake!
Why Aniseed Rusks?
There’s something about aniseed rusks that just feels like home. Maybe it’s the way they fill the kitchen with that unmistakable licorice-y scent, or the way they beg to be dunked into a steaming mug of coffee. Either way, these rusks are the real deal—crunchy, fragrant, and perfect for sharing (or not, I won’t judge).
The First Dunk
Grab a rusk, dunk it in your coffee, and taste the love. Crunchy, aromatic, and just sweet enough—these aren’t mosbolletjies, but they’re every bit as comforting.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
No grape must? No problem. With instant yeast and a generous sprinkle of aniseed, you’ll have aniseed rusks that are fluffy, fragrant, and perfect for any season. And honestly, who has time to wait for grape harvest when there’s coffee to be drunk and rusks to be dunked?
K’ love you bye.
🖤
Lila
Aniseed Rusks
Equipment
- baking tray 23cm radius
- oven or dehydrator
Ingredients
Dough
- 730g/5 cups cake flour or all purpose flour
- 15g/2 ½ tbsps aniseed toasted, whole
- 10g/1 tbsp instant yeast
- 1 ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 200g/1 cup sugar light brown or white
- 125g/1/2 cups butter melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ cups/ ml milk
- dash of oil
Glaze
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ⅛ cup water
Instructions
- In a small pan toast the aniseeds until fragrant and set aside. Note: this is optional, I prefer my aniseed rusks to have a stronger aniseed flavour.
- In a large bowl or a stand mixer, combine flour, instant yeast, and toasted whole aniseed, mix until mostly combined. Set aside.
- In a separate, medium heatproof bowl, add butter and microwave until the butter has fully melted. Once melted, add sugar, an egg and milk. Mix until mostly combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Using your hands or an stand mixer. Once combined, coat the dough with some oil and allow to double in size at room temperature, about 1-2 hours. Once doubled, place the dough in the fridge to rise overnight. Note: the dough is very sticky so mixing it manually will be a bit challenging. I kneaded the dough for around 3 minutes on a clean working surface but take note, this was a sticky process indeed - at least I know the ingredients were well combined.
- Line a baking tray with melted butter. Remove the dough from the fridge and section the chilled dough into 20 balls weighing approx. 70g each. Tightly pack the balls into a lined baking tray.
- Allow to rise at room temperature for for another hour or until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 180℃/375℉. Bake for 60 minutes or until dark brown on top and well risen.
- Meanwhile, melt the sugar and water together. Remove from the oven and release from the baking tray. Brush the top with the glaze ensuring you've covered the surface generously. Serve immediately with butter OR gently start pulling them apart once they're cool enough to handle but still warm.
- Drying: place the pulled apart pieces of brioche on a drying tray and set the oven/dehydrator to 90℃/194℉. Dry for 4 hours or overnight with the oven door slightly ajar.
- Once they're fully dried, you can pop on the kettle, make that cup of tea or coffee and get dunking!