My mum made them, Col's mum made them and I've been making them for nearly 40 years.
Although back then they were just rusks and it was only years later when I came across them called Suffolk Rusks in a regional cookery book, that I found they were traditional here and nowhere else.
I think they used to be made for farm workers to take to the fields with a piece of cheese. They are high in fats so would have given the workers a good boost mid morning.
A few years ago Home Farmer Magazine ran a feature about cooking in different parts of the UK and asked for recipes so I sent them this recipe and they featured it in the magazine but with their photos - goodness knows what they did but they looked nothing like my rusks!
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Sue
So that is how they turn out! I think they would go down well in this house. Congratulations on the magazine item! I am intrigued, what did the food stylists do to them?
ReplyDeleteI still do a lot of baking, some little gannets live next door - two of my grandchildren. We have them after school, for a couple of hours, I swear they have hollow legs.
I wonder if they are in any of your old recipe books?
DeleteThey look delicious and the thought of having one with butter and cheese is just too good to be true! Congratulations on the recipe/article.
ReplyDeleteJ x
Tasty but very high in calories and fat
DeleteLooks similar to a scone, but more fat and halved and baked again. Not heard of those, thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteMore crumbly than a scone and egg instead of milk to mix and no sugar of course
DeleteSu that is a bit spooky. I was just thinking about having seen what the Americans call biscuits thinking I should make some as I have said for ever, then I saw your post and yours are a little similar. Not sweet and could be eaten to mop up stews, the Americans eat them with what they call grits and gravy, just in case you haven't seen. (I love American cookery progs; my favs are The Pioneer Woman, The Barefoot Contessa, Diners Drive-ins and Dives).
ReplyDeleteThese are too crumbly to use for moping up gravy. The high proportion of fat to flour means they just fall to bits easily
DeleteSound yummy!
DeleteMmm, looking dee-lish-us!
ReplyDeleteThey are
DeleteWow they look really scrummy. A couple of those a day with cheese on top should help Colin’s weight go up I should think! My late mum was born and brought up in Suffolk, but I’ve never heard of Suffolk rusks.
ReplyDeleteI’ve just looked at your recipe page for the first time, Sue and there are loads of things I will try - many thanks!
I've no idea if these were widely made in Suffolk or just by people involved in farming
DeleteP's mother at 97 still bakes a batch of these each week, cheese flavoured. She is well known for them. She has a baking day when all the week's baking is done.
ReplyDeleteMaybe cheese is a Norfolk version. I only use cheese in cheese scones or cheese straws
DeleteI’ll certainly give these a go (I need the calories). I’ve not looked at your recipe section before - there’s some good stuff there.
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteI've heard of Suffolk Rusks but never seen them before. Well done for having them featured in a magazine....what did they do to them to make them look different to yours though?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what they did but they looked too wet, too thin and just not right. It was several years ago
DeleteGlad you are carrying on that tradition. My mum baked once a week, cheese cakes, currant cakes and rusks. Mum turned out pies as needed. Her cooking was plain but my goodness so good.
ReplyDeleteThey sound lovely. I do love pastry but it doesn't love my hips!
ReplyDeleteThey look like what I grew up with as being called baking powder biscuits. However, we do not split and put back into the oven. When a bit of sugar is added we use for strawberry short cake. Without sugar, sausage gravy and biscuits. I use to come home from school, when I was a kid, and slap a big gob of butter on a day old biscuit to hold me over until supper. Your rusks are very similar. Ranee (MN) USA
ReplyDeleteMy mother was a good plain cook - her speciality was Lincolnshire Plum Bread - never found anything to come anywhere near as good anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of them but I've never had them! I do have a recipe in one of those little East Anglian cookery books they sold a few years ago along with (I think) stories of them.
ReplyDeleteMy mum makes these every Sunday for tea! I love a rusk with lashing of butter on it, especially hot from the oven.
ReplyDeletemy in laws from beccles suffolk made these every week on baking day - lovely she also made pigs fry once a week
ReplyDeleteMy Grandmother(Nanna) made Suffolk rusks every week and I would have some every time I visited. Usually they were a week old but they kept very well in a tin. Better than the cold cheese on toast she used to give me😁
ReplyDeleteI am Suffolk born and bred, and my Mum used to make Suffolk Rusks every week. I now make them from my Mum’s recipe, in fact, I have just made a batch. They are very crumbly, but are absolutely delicious!
ReplyDeleteI’m a Suffolk girl and we used to have rusks on a regular basis. I am about to make some for my Yorkshire husband. His mum used to make fatty cakes and I think they may be similar but they weren’t split
ReplyDeleteMy Mum used to make them, they were a staple during the war. I'm now in Hampshire and my wife (also from Beccles) couldn't find her recipe.
ReplyDelete