#RooibosRecipe: Sponge Dumplings by Carmen Niehaus

Sponge dumplings or sponskluitjies bring back a bit of nostalgia and good memories to me. I remember the sponskluitjies my mom used to make for us frequently during the wintertime for Sunday lunch’s pudding. It was my grandmother’s, Ouma Carmen’s, recipe that she always used. The sponge dumplings were carefully spooned into a super-sweet cinnamon sauce. Lekker! And then my mother-in-law, spoiled our kids’ plenty of times with a good old souskluitjie, hers made with a butter sauce and cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. Here I sort of combo the two and add an interesting twist – I made the sauce with rooibos tea and made it less sweet. Then you can still add your sprinkling of cinnamon sugar if you want a bit more sweetness. In the picture, I also used the old green bowl my mother-in-law always serves her puddings in, and the glass pudding bowls I inherited from my Ouma Carmen.

SPONGE DUMPLINGS

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

SAUCE

1. 500 ml (2 c) Carmién Natural Rooibos Tea (made with 3 tea bags)
2. 80 ml (⅓ c) sugar
3. 5 ml (1 t) cinnamon
4. 5 ml (1 t) butter

DUMPLINGS

• 30 ml (2 T) cornflour
• 30 ml (2 T) cake flour
• 15 ml (1 T) custard
• 1,25 ml (¼ t) salt
• 500 ml (2 c) milk
• 2 eggs, separated
• 5 ml (1 t) vanilla essence

TO SERVE

• Cinnamon sugar (optional)

1. SAUCE Place all the ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour into the serving dish.
2. DUMPLINGS Mix the cornflour, cake flour, custard, and salt with a little bit of the milk to form a paste.
3. Heat the rest of the milk till lukewarm
4. Slowly add the heated milk to the flour paste while stirring continuously. Then pour the mixture into a saucepan. Bring to a boil while frequently stirring.
5. Beat the egg yolks and beat into the boiled mixture. Also, add the vanilla essence.
6. Beat the egg whites with a clean whisk till stiff and fold into the mixture, a spoonful at a time.
7. Spoon dessert spoons full of the mixture into the rooibos sauce. Add a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar if preferred. Serve warm.