Right click here to download some more pudding recipes.

Not lucky in the SA Lotto? Why not take a chance on the UK Lotto? Minimum jackpot is Three million pounds (R45 million!) Click here for a chance to win BIG!

My Recipe CD has now been updated and now includes 50 Recipe eBooks as well as 8 Bonus eBooks (4 eBooks on making, marketing and selling crafts for profit) Click here to take a look. (that works out to about R2 per recipe book! sheessshhh!)

Hello Peter,
Just to let you know that I received my recipe CD today in the mail and I'm over the moon about it.
I'm going to spread the word to others to order copies too. It's most certainly worth every cent..........
Thanks again,
LC

Glenacres Superspar sends out a really nice newsletter full of super recipes. To subscribe, click here and send the blank email. 

BUTTERNUT SOUP

1kg butternut, peeled, seeded and cubed
30ml margarine
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1½ litres vegetable stock
1ml cinnamon
curry powder to taste
salt & pepper to taste
cream or natural yoghurt

1. Melt the margarine, add the onions and garlic and fry till soft
2. Add the butternut and vegetable stock, bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer till tender
3. Flavour with the curry powder, salt & pepper and allow to cool slightly
4. Liquidize or mash until smooth, reheat and serve with a swirl of cream or yoghurt on top
 

Go take a look at my Wacky Sarmies page, there are some great sarmie ideas!

Cindy Davies, London, UK
Fresh white bread with warm beetroot and mayo.
White bread with sardines and peanut butter. 

Ice cream

1 pint milk
1/4 to 1/2 pint of cream
2 teaspoons galatine
pinch of salt
vanilla, strawberry or lemon essence

Add sugar and milk, melt gelatine in 1/4 cup hot water, add to milk and sugar, then add cream and essence. Mix well.  Freeze for 1/2 hour, take out and beat. Freeze again,

Why do some mammals grimace after scenting something?
(Beat About the Bush (Mammals)- Trevor Carnaby; Jacana Media, 2007. p43-45.

The unusual facial grimace is an exhibition of flehmen, a German word, which describes the action of an animal analysing a scent signal. It is variously reffered to as the flehmen response/ action ore simply just flehming.
It is practised by most hoofed animals and some carnivores. This action causes ducts to open in the mouth and nasal passages, allowing the scent signals (predominantly pheromones) to be transferred to, and analysed by, a special organ called the vomero-nasal organ (or Jacobson’s organ in reptiles), which is situated between the nose and the mouth cavities. The vomero-nasal (VNO) senory channels are distinct from the conventional olfactory channels, having their own organs and neural connections to the brain. Because the VNO is usually situated in a blind sac off the nasal cavity, airborne molecules do not access as readily as they do the ofactory cells. In mammals this is primarily achieved by delivering the pheromones via liquid medium –either saliva after scent inspection or urine itself. This is facilitated by an involuntary pumping action that dilates and constricts the organ walls drawing liquid in for rapid stimuli transfer. It is usually a paired organ enclosed within a bone formed by the vomer bone or cartilage –hence the name. This technique is very useful in decoding important information such as sexual status, dominance, identity and, particularly, the reproductive status of females. Although primarily used as a tool to determine the sexual condition of females, flehmen is often deployed at any strange scent. In many animals, such as elephant, the behaviour is exhibited without any grimacing or other outward clues.

Click here to see a photo of a grimacing lion, I took this picture at the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park earlier this year

Subscribe to my Afrikaans newsletter . Visit my Afrikaans website
 

Potjiekos recipe

Another new feature, from now on I will feature a potjie recipe with each newsletter. For those of you who are not familiar with a potjie (cast iron three legged pot) you may use a dutch oven.

Potjie pudding
Ingredients
SYRUP
125 ml water
250 ml hanepoot wine
250 ml fresh orange juice
100 g sugar
10 ml butter
5 ml grated orange rind
1 clove
1 stick cinnamon
25 ml lemon juice
2 ml ground ginger
BATTER
160 g butter
100 g castor sugar
2 eggs, whisked
25 ml apricot jam
5 ml grated orange rind
5 ml vanilla essence
180 g self-raising flour
pinch salt
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
250 ml milk
150 g seedless raisins

Method:
Place all ingredients for the syrup in a potjie and bring to the boil. To make the batter, cream the butter and castor sugar together. Add the eggs and beat well. Also add the apricot jam, orange rind and vanilla essence and blend. Sift the flour and salt together and gradually add to the mixture. Blend well. Dissolve bicarbonate of soda in the milk and add to the mixture with the raisins. Blend well. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the boiling syrup, cover and simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until the surface no longer looks like uncooked dough. Serve with cream, custard or ice cream. Serves 6.

Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had given their new wives duties.
Terry had married a woman from America , and bragged that he had told his wife she was going to do all the dishes and housework. He said that it took a couple days but on the third day he came home to a clean house and the dishes were all washed and put away.
Jimmie had married a woman from New Zealand he bragged that he had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. He told them that the first day he didn't see any results, but the next day it was better.
By the third day, his house was clean, the dishes were done, and he had a huge dinner on the table.
The third man had married a South African girl. He boasted that he told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned,
dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for every meal.
He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day most of the swelling had gone down and he couldsee a little out of his left eye. Enough to fix himself a bite to eat, load the dishwasher, and call a landscaper.
God Bless South African Women

One day my housework-challenged husband decided to wash his Sweat-shirt. Seconds after he stepped into the laundry room, he shouted to me, "What setting do I use on the washing machine?"
"It depends," I replied. "What does it say on your shirt?"
He yelled back, "University of Oklahoma."
And they say blondes are dumb...

A couple is lying in bed. The man says,
"I am going to make you the happiest woman in the world."
The woman replies, "I'll miss you..."

"It's just too hot to wear clothes today," Jack says as he stepped out of the shower, "Honey, what do you think the neighbours would think if I mowed the lawn like this?"
"Probably that I married you for your money," she replied.
 

The FunkyMunky Herb eBook is now available. 48 popular herbs, descriptions and uses with photos. Immediately available, will be emailed to you. Only R50 , send me an email for payment details.
I'm very impressed with what I've read so far. What I really like is that your book is a combination of medicinal and culinary advice, unlike many other herb books I've read.
And the format is great - thanks very much. I have an ambitious project to make a herb garden this year - so your section of herb gardens will come in very handy - Shelagh 
 

Zimbabwe update

Dear Family and Friends,
In the main supermarket in my home town this weekend there were too many empty shelves to count. In the fortnight since Mr Mugabe was sworn in as President for his sixth term, everyday life has gone from struggle to complete crisis. No one is coping now and in the last two weeks virtually all foodstuffs, toiletries and household goods have completely disappeared from stores. On what should have been a busy weekend morning in our once thriving town, the car park was virtually empty and the only things to buy in the cavernous supermarket were cabbages, butternut squash, lemons, fizzy drinks and a few packets of meat.
"Where are all your goods?" I asked one shop attendant.
"There is nothing," he said, "the suppliers say they have nothing to deliver."
I stood while he weighed the butternut squash I had chosen and exclaimed in shock at the 30 billion dollar price sticker he fixed to the vegetable.
"Can I show you something?" the man said and before I could answer he took his most recent pay slip out of his pocket. For an entire month the shop assistant had earned just 28 billion dollars - not even enough to buy one single butternut squash. Eight hours a day, five and half days a week and his entire salary was not enough to provide even one single meal. He told me he had a wife and a childto support and said with remorse and shame in his voice:"I am failing them and if I do not jump the border to look for work this month then they are surely going to die."
They are simple words stating a simple fact - people are surely going to die here in Zimbabwe if this situation continues for much longer. Despite their desperate determination to stay in power and retain their 28 years of leadership of the country, Zanu PF have so far not even acknowledged the critical shortage of foodstuffs and basic medicines let alone done anything
about resolving it.
Everywhere people have stories of such deprivation and suffering to recount and we are a nation in a permanent state of shock. Shock that our lives have been reduced to this. Shock that yet again the UN have been unable to find a common voice. Shocked that the violence and brutality continues and shocked that yet again we are hearing of talks about talks about talks. On the 29th March the MDC won a parliamentary majority, It is long past time for them to be sworn in and take up the reigns and lead Zimbabwe out of this hell. Until next week, thanks for reading,
love
cathy.
Copyright cathy buckle .12 July 2008.
www.cathybuckle.com My books: "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available in South Africa from: books@clarkesbooks.co.za and in the UK from: orders@africabookcentre.com
To subscribe/unsubscribe to this newsletter, please write to: cbuckle@mango.zw
 

This South Africa - interesting facts and information

The A to Z of South African culture (each newsletter features a letter of the alphabet) see archive

L is for Literature
Thomas Pringle, Rider Haggard and Olive Schreiner , Wilbur Smith, JM Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Bessie Head, Athol Fugard, Credo Mutwa, Sol Plaatjie, NP van Wyk Louw, Andre Brink, Etienne Leroux, C.Louis Leipoldt, Can Themba, Breyten Breytenbach, Alan Paton, Eugene Marais and Herman Charles Bosman all wrote from these shores.
South Africa has produced two Nobel literature laureates: JM Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer. The country has had a rich history of literary output. Until relatively recently, realism dominated the production of fiction - perhaps because authors felt an overriding concern to capture the country's turbulent history and the experiences of its people.

Fiction has been written in all of South Africa's 11 official languages - with a large body of work in Afrikaans, in particular. Many of the first black authors were missionary-educated, and the majority wrote in either English or Afrikaans. One of the first novels by a black author in an African language was Sol Plaatje's Mhudi, written in 1930.

Source: SouthAfrica.info
The all-in-one official guide
and web portal to South Africa.  
 

Recipe Requests

Looking for a specific South African recipe? Email me and I will do my best to find it for you!

Add your suggestions to my Elephant Stew and Wacky Sarmies recipes.
 

Featured Website

Every issue I feature an interesting website .

Please take a look at the site and let Nico have your feedback and suggestions at: Nico@vitabrevis.co.za

Dear Friends
It is with great excitement that I announce the pre-launch of a new magazine (of which a friend and myself are the founders) in South Africa, focusing on all issues green (and red). Please visit our website: http://www.redgreen.co.za  and let me know if you have any feedback. We are very excited about the official launch in September and hope that we will be able to make a change even if it is in a small way.
Enjoy the articles and please let me know if there is anything you would like to see featured on the website.
Kind regards
Nico Nortjé

Apple pudding with muscadel sauce
Preparation time: 30
Cooking time: 30
Ingredients
2 large eggs
200 g sugar
65 ml milk
30 ml butter, melted
140 g self-raising flour
10 ml lemon rind, grated
385 g can pie apples
SAUCE
125 ml sugar
125 ml cream
125 ml sweet white Muscadel

Method:
Beat the eggs and sugar together.
Add the milk and melted butter.
Add the flour and lemon rind and mix until smooth.
Pour the batter into a greased 18 x 28 cm or 23 cm round baking dish.
Arrange the apple slices on top of the batter and bake in a preheated 180 ºC oven for 25 to 30 minutes until cooked through and golden.
To prepare the sauce, combine the sugar, cream and muscadel in a saucepan.
Heat gently until the sugar melts.
Pour over the hot pudding and allow to soak in.
Serve hot, with custard or whipped cream.

Apricot sago pudding
Ingredients
410 g apricots
140 g sago
500 ml milk
2 ml salt
175 ml sugar
25 ml butter
2 extra-large eggs, separated
50 ml smooth apricot jam

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF). Spray a 22 x 20 x 4 cm ovenproof dish with non-stick spray. Drain the apricots and reserve the syrup. Add enough water to the syrup to make up 250 ml. Set the apricots aside. Pour the syrup over the sago and soak for 5 minutes. Add the milk, salt and 125 ml sugar and heat slowly. (The syrup will cause the mixture to curdle.) Simmer till the sago is done while stirring continuously. Remove from the heat and add the butter and egg yolks. Mix well. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared oven dish and arrange the apricots on top. Spoon the remaining sago mixture over the apricots. Beat the egg whites till soft peaks are formed and add the remaining 50 ml sugar. Beat well. Spoon over the pudding and bake for 15-20 minutes or till the meringue begins to brown. Serve hot. Serves 6.

Baked banana pudding
Ingredients
30 ml melted butter
250 ml sugar
1 egg, whisked
250 ml cake flour
5 ml baking powder
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
pinch salt
65 ml water
5 ripe bananas, mashed
SYRUP
30 ml Nestlé condensed milk
250 ml water
200 ml sugar
15 ml butter

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF). Spray a 24 cm ovenproof serving dish with non-stick spray or margarine. Beat together the butter and sugar and stir in the whisked egg. Sift the dry ingredients together and stir into the sugar mixture, alternating with mashed bananas and water. Pour the batter into the prepared oven dish and bake for about 35 minutes until the pudding is golden brown or until a testing skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the pudding. Place all the ingredients for the syrup in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer until the syrup has thickened slightly, about 3-4 minutes. Prick the pudding with a fork and pour over the hot syrup as soon as the pudding is removed from the oven. Serve with a pouring custard or cream. Serves 4-6.

Baked rice pudding
Ingredients
125 ml sultanas
45 ml rum
6 extra-;large eggs
250 ml cream
750 ml milk
750 ml cooked rice
65 ml sugar
65 ml soft brown sugar
5 ml vanilla essence
5 ml grated orange rind
pinch salt
extra brown sugar

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF). Spray a large oven dish with non-stick spray. Soak the sultanas in rum for a few minutes. Whisk the eggs, cream and milk together and add the sultanas and remaining ingredients. Mix well and turn into the prepared oven dish. Bake for about 30 minutes, remove from the oven, sprinkle with extra brown sugar and bake for another 10 minutes or until set. Serve hot with cream and extra brown sugar.

Bread pudding
Ingredients
4 extra-large eggs, separated
125 g castor sugar
pinch salt
500 ml milk
4 slices bread, crusts removed
410 g pie apples
25 ml castor sugar
1 ml ground cinnamon
45 ml raisins, soaked

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170 ºC (340 ºF). Grease a 27 x 17 cm ovenproof dish with margarine or spray with non-stick spray. Beat the egg yolks and half the castor sugar together until thick and pale yellow. Add the salt and milk. Soak the bread slices in the mixture. Arrange the bread in the bottom of the dish. Combine the pie apples, 25 ml castor sugar, cinnamon and raisins. Spoon the apple mixture on top of the bread and pour the remaining milk mixture on top. Bake for 35 minutes or until the egg mixture has set. Beat the egg whites until stiff, adding the remaining castor sugar by the spoonful. Spread the meringue over the hot pudding, ensuring that it reaches to the sides of the dish. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown. Serve immediately.

Cape Brandy pudding
Ingredients
250 g dates, stoned and finely chopped
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
250 ml boiling water
125 g margarine
200 g sugar
2 eggs, beaten
240 g cake flour
5 ml baking powder
2 ml salt
250 ml walnuts or pecan nuts, chopped
SAUCE
300 ml sugar
15 ml butter
200 ml water
5 ml vanilla essence
2 ml salt
25 ml brandy

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 ºC. 1. Divide chopped dates into 2 portions. Add bicarbonate of soda and boiling water to 1 portion, mix well and leave to cool. 2. Cream margarine and sugar then beat in eggs. 3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt over mixture and fold in. Add dry portions of dates and walnuts, blending well. 4. Stir in bicarbonate of soda mixture, blend thoroughly and turn batter out into a large baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes or until firm. SAUCE: Heat sugar, butter and water for 5 minutes. Remove from stove and stir in vanilla essence, salt and brandy. Pour sauce over pudding as soon as it comes out of the oven and serve hot or cold with whipped cream.

Chocolate pot pudding
Ingredients
SYRUP
1 litre water
500 g sugar
10 ml ground cinnamon
15 ml cocoa
100 ml grape vinegar
50 g coconut
BATTER
360 g cake flour
5 ml salt
15 ml bicarbonate of soda
200 ml milk
30 ml melted margarine
125 ml golden syrup or apricot jam

Method:
Mix all the syrup ingredients together in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil while stirring continuously. Then boil for 5 minutes. Sift the cake flour and salt together. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the milk and stir in the remaining ingredients. Add to the dry ingredients. Mix to form a smooth paste. Drop teaspoonfuls of the batter into the boiling syrup and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the pudding is cooked. Serve with custard or ice cream.

Hot caramel sticky pudding
Ingredients
220 g butter spread
275 g light brown sugar
225 g cake flour
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
pinch salt
2 ml each ground cinnamon and ginger
1 lemon, grated peel
30 ml treacle
30 ml golden syrup
45 ml lemon juice
200 ml milk
2 eggs, beaten

Method:
Warm 100 g butter spread and 115 g sugar in a saucepan, then pour into a greased ovenproof dish. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices into a separate bowl. Stir in lemon peel and remaining sugar. Place treacle, golden syrup and remaining butter spread in a pan, heat until melted. Stir, allow to cool, then pour into bowl containing dry ingredients. Mix lemon juice with milk, add eggs and beat until blended. Add to bowl and beat until mixture has a soft, dropping consistency, then spoon into dish containing melted butter and sugar. Stand on a baking tray and bake at 180 ºC for 25 minutes. Place a plate, upside down, over top of bowl and invert. Shake so that pudding will unmould easily. The hot sauce will run over the pudding.

Maize meal pudding
Ingredients
2 litre hot milk
375 ml maize meal
15 ml molasses
2 eggs, beaten
30 ml margarine
250 ml sugar
5 ml salt
1 ml cinnamon
1 ml ginger

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 ºC. Grease an ovenproof dish. In a heavy-based saucepan heat milk, add maize meal and molasses, and stir for 10 minutes at low heat. Remove from heat, pour in beaten eggs, margarine, sugar, salt, cinnamon and ginger and mix well. Pour into ovenproof dish and bake for 30 minutes. When cooked, serve immediately with whipped cream or custard.

Malva pudding
Ingredients
50 g butter or margarine
125 ml sugar
1 extra-large egg
15 ml apricot jam
5 ml white vinegar
250 ml cake flour
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
250 ml milk
SAUCE
1 x 410 g can evaporated milk
125 g butter
125 ml sugar
5 ml vanilla essence

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 °C. Lightly grease a medium-sized ovenproof dish.
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, beating until light and fluffy. Mix in jam and vinegar.
Sift dry ingredients and add milk, beating until smooth.
Spoon into the ovenproof dish and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
SAUCE
Heat the evaporated milk, butter, sugar and vanilla essence in a saucepan over stove until boiling.
Pour sauce over top of pudding as soon it is taken out of the oven. Serve hot.

Brown pudding
Ingredients
PUDDING
1 extra-large egg
125 ml sugar
15 ml apricot jam
20 ml vinegar
250 ml cake flour
5 ml baking powder
1 ml salt
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
250 ml milk
SAUCE
250 ml sugar
250 ml milk
60 ml hot water
100 g butter
5 ml vanilla essence
10 ml brandy

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 °C and grease a 20 cm square ovenproof dish with butter.
Beat the egg and sugar together well until light and thick.
Add the apricot jam and vinegar and beat.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the sugar mixture.
Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the milk and stir with the dry ingredients into the egg mixture.
Pour into the dish and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until done.
Sauce:
Over low heat bring all the ingredients except the vanilla essence and brandy to the boil.
Simmer for 1 minute, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla essence and brandy.
Pour the sauce over the pudding as it comes out of the oven.
Serve with thin custard or pouring cream.

Raisin pudding
Ingredients
270 g soft brown sugar
50 ml soft butter
800 ml water
15 ml cream
2 extra-large eggs, beaten
100 g cake flour
7 ml baking powder
2 ml salt
50 g wholewheat flour
75 g seedless raisins, soaked in
30 ml brandy
2 ml vanilla essence

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF). Mix 250 ml of the brown sugar, 15 ml of the butter and water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil for 10 minutes. Pour sauce into an ovenproof dish, but set 50 ml aside and mix cream with it. Keep warm. Cream remaining brown sugar and butter together. Add eggs and beat. Sift dry ingredients together and fold into egg mixture. Return husks left behind in sieve to mixture. Fold raisins, brandy and vanilla essence into mixture. Drop spoonfuls of batter into sauce in dish and bake for 40 minutes or until done. Pour over remaining sauce when pudding comes out of oven. Serve hot with custard.

Rice pudding
Ingredients
250 ml uncooked long-grain rice
1 litre milk
80 ml sugar
2 ml ground nutmeg
2 cinnamon sticks
5 ml vanilla essence

Method:
Cook rice according to instructions on packet. Add milk, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Simmer gently for 30 to 40 minutes, until mixture is creamy. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Stir in vanilla essence and allow mixture to cool. Remove cinnamon sticks before serving.

Rusk crumb pudding

Ingredients
80 g rusk crumbs
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
pinch salt
140 g white sugar
75 g sultanas
250 ml large potato, grated
250 ml medium carrots, grated
250 ml water
30 ml melted butter
grated rind of 1 lemon

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF). Spray a medium-sized ovenproof dish with non-stick spray. Combine the rusk crumbs, bicarbonate of soda, salt, sugar and sultanas. Add the potato and carrot and mix. Add the water, butter and lemon rind and mix well. Turn the mixture into the prepared dish and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with custard or ice cream. Serves 4-6.

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