What’s the go with these weird rusks?

How does a woman living on the Sunshine Coast, born and raised just down the road in Northern New South Wales, end up launching Sunshine Rusks, a business baking and selling South African rusks?

I’m keenly aware of the difference between a cockroach and a cane toad, and have gagged on my fair share of gross as I wiped my baby’s half chewed teething rusk off my arm/face/leg/clothing. So what’s with these weird coffee dippers you’re calling a rusk?

The blame for this strange turn of events lays squarely at the stomach of my husband.

My love affair with South Africa.

Originally from South Africa, my husband grew up near Cape Town. We met over two decades ago, and I have been indoctrinated into the culture of South Africa ever since. I don’t speak a lot of Afrikaans (though I am fluent in all the swear words) but the language of food and making people happy with it?? Yeah, I’m pretty good at that.

I love to cook, and one of the first things I attempted to impress my soon-to-be husband with was gooseberry tart. “The best recipe is my moms”, and so I spent a lot of time on the phone to his sister and mum back in South Africa trying to sort this thing out. I’d never heard of a gooseberry up to that point. The result? A complete runny disaster. Wouldn’t have been out of place served up on a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here challenge.

Next, I tried to woo him with a breakfast staple you dunked in a coffee: a miserable batch of muesli rusks. You could have nun-chucked someone to death with those things. Sigh… It would take a few trips to the Rainbow Nation and a bit of trial and error before I began to enjoy and really appreciate the variety and deliciousness of South African foods.

Bobotie, frikkadels, chakalaka, peri-peri chicken, braai-broodjies, Cape Malay curries, all the meat, malva pudding, koeksisters, rusks… these dishes have become staples in our overwhelmingly Aussie home.

Rusks become a household staple.

I came across the base recipe for what is now the Sunshine Rusk range around 14 years ago. Over time it was perfected, and now there is always a mason jar of these buttery sweet, nutritious and crunchy treats sitting on our bench. Everyone loved them, and Pepita+Sunflower Rusks became our usual ‘gift’ for friends and family:

• Bought a house? Have some rusks.
• Had a baby? Eat these rusks.
• Camping with us? Here’s your own box of rusks.
• Rough time? These rusks will console you.
• Weekend away with my girl-gang? I’ll bring some rusks.
• Did us a two-carton job? Have some rusks too.
• Overnight fishing trip? Take these rusks.
• Having us over for dinner? Talk about us tomorrow while you have these rusks.

It’s pretty simple; these sweet, crunchy and nutritious biscuits just make you feel good… and I reckon the South Africans have kept them on the down-low for long enough. Everyone should be eating rusks! So, Sunshine Rusks was born, and I’ve vowed to bring us Aussies up to rusk-speed. The combination of traditional recipes with a Sunshine Coast twist, Sunshine Rusks makes any day better. Try some today 😊