South African Brandy Squares Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. NOTE: Creaming of fat and sugar until it resembles whipped cream in colour and texture.
• Add eggs and beat well.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into egg mixture. Fold in the nuts.
• In small bowl, pour boiling water over dates. Add baking soda and let it bubble. Pour date mixture into batter and mix well.
• Pour batter into a greased 11 x 9-inch baking dish and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in tart comes out clean.
• Meanwhile, to make syrup, in a saucepan combine sugar, water and butter. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, or until syrup is a golden colour.
• Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and brandy. When bubbles disappear, pour syrup over tart just as it comes out of the oven. Serve cold with whipped cream. Serves 10.
• Impossible Pie.Recipes Compiled By Lucy Waverman for the Hospital For Sick Children Centre.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the dry ingredients.
• Combine all the wet ingredients, pour them into the dry ingredients, and stir until you have a soft dough, similar to biscuit dough.
• Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and roll or pat it to about a 1/2 inch thickness.
• Cut the dough into rectangles about 2 by 4 inches.
• Bake the rusks about 2 inches apart on buttered baking sheet for about 25 minutes until the tops are crisping and browning a little.
• Loosely pile the rusks on a baking sheet and keep them in a 200 degree oven all day or all night (about 12 hours) to dry.
• The finished rusks should be very dry and hard.
• Cool and store in an airtight container.
• Rusks will keep for weeks.
• Variations Oatmeal-Raisin Rusks: Reduce the white flour to 1 1/2 cups and add 2 cups rolled oats and 1/2 cup currants or chopped raisins.
• Almond Rusks: Add 1 cup chopped almonds and omit the cinnamon.
• Peanut Rusks: Add 1 cup coarsely chopped peanuts.