Author: Karen Claassen

Melkkos is a traditional South African dish which is perfect for rainy days or when you simply need some comfort. This is a quick version but no less tasty than the original. If you like pancakes you will love melkkos.

This recipe will feed six people with an average appetite.

110g butter, cubed

250ml cake flour

1 litre milk

45ml butter

62ml sugar

1,2ml salt

ground cinnamon

Add the cubed butter and flour to a mixing bowl.

Rub the butter into the flour with your hands until you have dough pieces the size of peas. Set aside.

Pour the milk into a saucepan, add the 45ml butter and bring to a slow boil while stirring.

Add the flour mixture into the boiling milk while whisking continuously. Keep on whisking until all the lumps have dissolved and you are left with a really smooth mixture.

Now add the sugar and salt and turn down the heat. Cook until the mixture is thick and creamy, stirring every now and then.

Spoon the melkkos into serving bowl and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Serve piping hot.

This cocktail makes for a perfect end to a meal on those days that you simply want lazy and relaxed lunches without trim and fanfare and especially do not feel like preparing a dessert.

The recipe provides for one cocktail.

30ml very strong coffee, cooled and refrigerated

45ml sweet Marsala or sweet dessert wine

30ml ice cream, very soft

30ml coconut milk

finger biscuits

cocoa powder

Add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker or a small jug and shake/whisk for one minute.

Fill the glass with crushed ice and pour in the drink.

Place a finger biscuit in the cocktail and dust with cocoa powder.

Htipiti is a Greek spread that varies from region to region but it is mostly a cheese-based spread. I love making my spread with roasted red peppers as it adds smokiness and transports me right back to the island of Paros with its beautiful beaches and sunny days that last forever. It doubles up as a dip with crudités and delivers on all those summary Mediterranean flavours. A must-have on that al fresco menu!

200g feta cheese

125ml roasted red peppers, roughly chopped

62ml olive oil

15ml lemon juice

2,5ml smoked paprika

Add all the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.

Serve as a spread on a meze platter with flatbread, olives, cucumber and tomato or simply as a dip with crudités.

The spread will keep for one week when refrigerated.

Ginger biscuits have always been a holiday staple but this ginger-orange combination might just replace your old-time favourite! They are a bit messy to make as the dough is really soft and sticky but it is exactly that, that gives these biscuits their wonderful snap.

The recipe makes about 120 biscuits, depending on the size you make each. Keeps well in an airtight container and can be made long in advance.

45ml orange peel, pith removed and finely chopped

juice of one orange

50g brown sugar

Add the chopped orange peel, orange juice and sugar to a small saucepan over a medium-low heat.

Stir the mixture until the sugar has dissolved and it comes to a gentle simmer.

Simmer for about 5 minutes – keep your eye on it as it tends to rise up in the saucepan!

Put aside.

500g self-raising flour

10ml cream of tartar

10ml bicarbonate of soda

10ml ground ginger

2ml salt

170g butter, cubed

170 g golden syrup

300g brown sugar

2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 180℃.

Grease two large baking sheets.

Sift the flour, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Add the butter to these dry ingredients and rub it in by hand.

Pour the golden syrup into a saucepan and place it on medium heat until melted.

Add the brown sugar to the syrup and stir over low heat until most of the sugar has dissolved. You will have sugar grains in the mixture – make sure it is really runny.

Add the orange and syrup mixture that you made earlier to this, stir through and take off the heat. Allow the mixture to cool to the point where it is still runny.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add it to the cooled syrup mixture, whisking as you do.

Add the syrup mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until there are no traces of dry flour left.

Now cover the dough with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator to cool for at least an hour; I leave mine overnight. Once the dough is cold it will be easier to shape.

Take the dough from the refrigerator and scoop out a teaspoon full, roll it into a ball and place it on the baking sheet. Flatten the ball slightly with your fingers. The dough balls should be about 4 cm apart on the baking sheet as they tend to spread when baking.

Once the baking sheet is filled, bake in the oven for 12 minutes.

Cool the biscuits on the baking sheet once cooked as they are very soft.

The biscuits store well in a sealed container.

This quick-bread is deliciously savoury and the perfect carrier for an open sandwich on lazy afternoons..

500g self-raising flour

125ml mature cheddar cheese, grated

1 X 50g packet of white onion soup

1,2ml salt

2,5ml smoked paprika

500ml cultured buttermilk

6 spring onions, chopped

Preheat your oven to 180℃.

Grease a medium sized bread tin.

Add the flour, cheese, onion soup powder, salt and paprika to a bowl and mix through with a spatula.

Add the buttermilk and spring onions to the dry ingredients and mix well. Keep mixing until you can not see any dry bits flour.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared bread tin and bake for one hour.

Cool completely before slicing.

This is the perfect dessert for a summer’s lunch when you have to accommodate young and old. You do not need any special equipment and all preparations can be done up to three days in advance.

1 X 397g tin of condensed milk

200ml lemon juice

zest of two lemons or limes

500ml cream

about 30 small meringues; you may buy them or make them from the recipe: Mini Pavlovas

Line a 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin with a double layer of plastic wrap. If you run cold water through the tin and shake most water out, the plastic wrap will “cling” to the tin and make the lining thereof easier. Store in the freezer while you get on with the work.

Mix the condensed milk, lemon juice and lemon zest in a mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk until the mixture amalgamates. Set aside.

Add the cream to a clean mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until stiff peaks form.

Fold the cream into the condensed milk mixture with a spatula.

Now smash half the meringues and sprinkle it onto the bottom of the lined cake tin.

Pour the cream mixture into the cake tin and wrap it securely with plastic wrap. Wrap it all around as you do not want the ice cream to form crystals.

Freeze overnight.

To serve:

Remove the ice cream from the freezer and allow to stand outside for 10 minutes.

Take off the plastic wrap on the outside.

Loosen the ring of the cake tin and remove it and then pull the plastic wrap from the cake and place it on a serving dish.

Decorate the top with the remaining meringues.

Cut into portions with a serrated knife and serve.

This time of year, I’m usually in strawberry heaven: I have them in salads, flans, cakes, with muesli, in smoothies, cocktails, with ice cream, juice and my real favourite, fresh; covered in a natural strawberry syrup.

1kg fresh strawberries

250ml caster sugar

a handful of fresh mint leaves

Hull the strawberries and slice them in half.

Add them to a large bowl and sprinkle the caster sugar and torn mint leaves on top.

Give everything a good stir and place in the refrigerator for an hour.

And voila! You have sweet, fresh strawberries covered in their own natural syrup!

This is a delicious vegetable bake as the subtle sauce combines soft, sweet butternut with almost-crispy chickpeas. Loaded with goodness and flavour and really easy to put together.

3 medium butternuts

1 onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

5ml curry powder

10ml turmeric powder

10ml salt

15ml sugar

125ml coconut milk

2 tins chickpeas, drained

a handful of basil leaves

Preheat your oven to 180℃.

Halve the butternuts lengthwise and take out the seeds.

Sprinkle the flesh with some vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place on a baking sheet and bake until soft. This should take about 30 minutes.

Add a small amount of vegetable oil to a small saucepan and add the chopped onion, red pepper, garlic, curry powder, turmeric, salt and sugar.

Cook this flavouring mixture over a medium heat for about two minutes and then add the coconut milk, followed by the chickpeas.

Cook for another 5 – 10 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken. Take off the heat.

Remove the butternut from the oven and scoop out some of the flesh – you want most of the flesh left behind in the skin, but you also need to make space for the chickpea filling.

Mix the butternut flesh which you have scooped out into the chickpea mixture.

Now scoop the chickpea mixture into the butternut halves and bake for another 15 minutes.

Serve warm, sprinkled with fresh basil leaves.

I love this time of year. My children “disappear” and go into exam mode which to me signals Christmas baking! I bake with the intention of stocking up for the lazy weeks in the sun and surf around Christmas. My intentions are “tasted”. I bake again. And so on…… all in the name of the love and joy of baking and the spirit of Christmas.

This recipe makes a small batch of about 24 fingers but I usually double it up! I suggest you do the same.

120g oats (oatmeal)

80g desiccated coconut

150g sugar

120g cake flour

2ml bicarbonate of soda

a pinch of salt

125g butter

25ml syrup

Preheat your oven to 180℃.

Grease a 20cm X 30cm X 3cm baking try.

Mix the oatmeal, coconut and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt onto the mixture and stir through.

Melt the butter and syrup in a saucepan over low heat.

Pour onto the oatmeal mixture and give it a thorough mix so that no dry flour remains.

Spoon the mixture into the greased baking tray and press it firmly into the tray with the palm of your hand.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Cut the crunches into fingers while still warm.

Allow to cool completely in the baking tray.

Break into the finger markings and store in a glass jar.

If you hide them away they will make a wonderful gift for a friend…..