The Satanic Mechanic (31 page)

Grease a 24-cm springform cake tin. Press the crust mixture lightly onto the base and sides of the tin. You want a thin crust on the base (5–7 mm) and it doesn't matter if the crust doesn't go all the way up the sides of the tin or is uneven in height. Put in the fridge for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180°C

To make the cake, blend the cream cheese, orange zest, lemon zest and caster sugar in a large bowl, then add the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add the lemon juice and sour cream.

Pour the mixture into the cooled crust. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes.

Make the sour-cream topping by mixing the sour cream, caster sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Spread over the cheesecake and bake for a further 20 minutes or until set.

Leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven, with the oven door ajar. Then refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Garnish with a little finely grated orange zest.

SWEET-POTATO CAKE (Serves 10–12)

2 cups (300g) plain flour

1 T baking powder

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

2 cups white sugar

1½ cups sunflower oil

¼ cup boiling water

4 eggs, separated

1½ cups (200g) peeled and coarsely grated sweet potato

1 cup (100g) chopped walnuts

1 t vanilla essence

Icing

2 cups (250g) icing sugar, sifted

4 T (50g) butter, at room temperature

250g plain cream cheese

ground cinnamon for dusting

½ cup (50g) chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease two 23-cm cake tins, dust them with a little plain flour and shake out the excess flour.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar and sunflower oil together. Add the boiling water and beat well. Add the egg yolks and the flour mixture and stir. Mix in the sweet potato, walnuts and vanilla essence.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them gently into the mixture.

Spoon the batter into the cake tins and level them off. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre of a cake comes out clean. Let them cool a little in the tins before turning them out carefully onto wire racks to cool completely. It is crumblier than sponge cake, so be gentle.

To make the icing, mix the icing sugar and butter well; the mixture will be like fine crumbs. Add half the cream cheese, one tablespoon at a time, stirring gently to avoid lumps.

Spread the rest of the cream cheese on top of each cake layer. Spread the icing on top of the cream cheese and sandwich the layers together. Dust a little cinnamon over the cake and top with the walnuts. Cool the cake in the fridge before serving. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

HENK'S FAVOURITE
(Serves 8–10)

4 eggs, separated

2 cups white sugar

2 cups milk

½ cup (70g) plain flour

⅔ cup orange juice

4 t grated orange zest

2 T lemon juice

⅔ cup Van der Hum liqueur

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease an ovenproof dish, about 25 × 25 cm.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the milk, sift in the flour and beat well to get rid of any lumps. Add the orange juice, orange zest and lemon juice. Finally, add the liqueur and mix well.

In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they are stiff and fold them carefully into the mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the greased dish and bake for about 45 minutes. The pudding will have a brown crust on top and be soft underneath when done.

PIKKIE'S PUMPKIN PIE
(Serves 8–10)

3 cups cooked pumpkin (or butternut squash) mashed

2 t olive oil

2 eggs

1 cup cream

1 cup brown sugar

1 t salt

1 cup milk

¼ cup melted butter

1 cup (140g) plain flour

2 t baking powder

ground cinnamon, for dusting

Cook the pumpkin and allow it to dry and cool in a sieve before mashing. The best way is to roast it on a baking tray, tossed with 2 teaspoons of olive oil.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease an ovenproof dish, about 23 × 23 cm.

Whisk the eggs, cream, sugar, salt and milk together, then whisk in the butter. Add the flour and baking powder and beat well. Finally, mix in the mashed pumpkin.

Spoon the mixture into the greased dish and bake for 50–60 minutes. The pie should be nicely browned on top. If you shake it, it will be a bit jiggly, like firm jelly. It will get firmer as it cools down. Dust with cinnamon before serving.

AUNT SANDRA'S MALVA PUDDING

(Serves 8–10)

½ cup white sugar

1 T butter, at room temperature

1 egg

1 cup (140g) plain flour

1 t bicarbonate of soda

½ t salt

½ cup milk

1 T vinegar

1 T apricot jam

Sauce

1 cup milk

⅔ cup white sugar

6 T butter

⅔ t vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease an ovenproof dish, about 23 × 23 cm.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large bowl, then beat in the egg.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt, and alternate adding this and the milk to the creamed mixture. Then add the vinegar and apricot jam and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the greased dish and bake for 40–45 minutes. It will have a golden crust when done.

To make the sauce, bring the milk, sugar and butter to the boil in a saucepan, stirring all the time. Boil for about 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract.

Pour the hot sauce over the pudding as it comes out of the oven. Let it stand to absorb the syrup.

Serve hot with pouring cream or homemade custard.

LASSIE IN LOVE'S SHORTBREAD
(Makes about 4 dozen biscuits)

2½ cups (350g) plain flour

1 cup (110g) cornflour

1 t baking powder

250g butter, at room temperature

½ cup caster sugar

1 egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 150°C and lightly grease a baking tray, about 20 × 30 cm.

Mix the flour, cornflour and baking powder in a bowl.

In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Mix in the egg yolk and then gradually mix in the flour mixture to form a soft dough.

Knead firmly with your hands. When the dough forms one smooth lump,
turn it out onto a floured wooden board. Flatten with a rolling pin to about 2 cm thick and then roll and shape the dough to fit the baking tray. Score the dough with a knife, making outlines of narrow biscuits (approx. 2 × 6 cm), and prick all over with a fork.

Bake for 25–30 minutes. Turn off the oven and remove the tray.

While hot, cut the shortbread along the scored lines and return the tray to the warm oven, leaving the door slightly open, for an hour or overnight to dry out. Store in an airtight container.

VAN DER HUM LIQUEUR
(Makes about 1 litre)

5 whole cloves

½ fresh nutmeg

2 sticks cinnamon

2 T finely sliced naartjie peel

750ml (1 bottle) good brandy

¼ cup rum

Syrup

1 cup white sugar

½ cup hot water

Bruise (but don't powder) the cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon with a pestle and mortar. Tie these into a piece of clean cheesecloth.

Scrape out and discard the white of the naartjie peel, and slice the peel finely before measuring. Put the spices (in the cloth) and naartjie peel into a big clean jar, and pour in the brandy. Put on the lid and shake the jar gently every day. (If you forget some days, it doesn't matter.) If you hold it against the light when you shake it, you will see the flavours coming out through the cloth in little ripples.

After a month, the flavours should have come through nicely. It can get bitter if you leave it longer. Strain the brandy through cheesecloth.

Boil the sugar and water together until it makes a thick syrup. Let it get cold and then stir it into the brandy. Add the rum and let it rest for a week or two before drinking.

BREAD AND RUSKS

MOSBOLLETJIE BREAD AND RUSKS
(Makes 3 loaves)

250g seeded raisins with stalks on

3 cups boiled water, cooled to room temperature

1 T white sugar

(or 3 cups ‘must' wine)

2.5kg plain flour, sifted

1 T salt

1½ cups white sugar

1 T aniseed

1 t grated fresh nutmeg

250g butter

1 cup boiling-hot milk

2 more cups boiled water, cooled

3 T melted butter for brushing

sugar water made from 3 T white sugar dissolved in

3 T warm water

‘Mos' is ‘must' and ‘bolletjies' are ‘little buns'. If you live in a wine-making area, you may be able to get some ‘must' wine. If not, you can make your own. Bruise the raisins using the back of a spoon, then put them in a glass jar with the 3 cups water and 1 T sugar. Leave to stand in a warm place for at least 24 hours, until the raisins float and the grape juice ferments and becomes ‘must'. Strain out the raisins (through cheesecloth in a sieve).

Add just enough of the flour (about half a cup) to the must wine to make a slack dough: soft like pouring batter. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise until it is frothy and full of gas bubbles. (This can take about 2 hours.) Keep a little of this slack dough as a yeast starter for any kind of sourdough bread (see Tips below).

Combine the rest of the flour with the salt, sugar, aniseed and nutmeg in a large bowl, and make a hole in the centre. Melt the 250g butter in the hot milk and stir this and the frothy batter into the flour mixture. Add at least 2 more cups of water to get it to a manageable dough.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead very well with your hands. Fold and knead. Fold and knead. Then fold and knead some more. For about 45 minutes. Invite others to help. Think peaceful thoughts or listen to a programme you like on the radio.

Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in volume. Now you can leave it for longer. Overnight is good. If it is a cold night, you can wrap it up and take it to bed with you for a while, and then put it in your hotbox.

The next morning, knead the dough gently and form into 24 buns. Pack the buns tightly into three greased loaf tins (8 buns per tin). Brush with the melted butter and again allow to rise until doubled in size. This can take between 1 and 3 hours.

Bake at 200°C for 45–55 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. When you tap the top of a loaf, it should sound hollow. Brush the loaves with the sugar-water solution and bake for another 5 minutes.

Eat some as fresh mosbolletjie bread with farm butter and then prepare the rest for rusks. Tear the loaves into buns and then slice these into tall, thin rusks. Spread out on oven trays and leave overnight in the warming drawer, or bake in a low oven (80–100°C) for 4–6 hours until hard and dry. If the rusks go brown, the oven is too hot.