Karoo Heartland

Traditional Roly-Poly

Traditional Roly-Poly

Most Karoo farmers’ wives probably bake a Roly-Poly pudding from memory. It’s no different with Carine van Kerken of DikkopVlakte Gasteplaas between Grahamstown and Bedford. She doesn’t have a specific recipe on paper but this one comes pretty close.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour (500 ml)
3 teaspoons baking powder (15 ml)
1 teaspoon salt
12 cup butter (125 g)
2 eggs, beaten
milk, a few tablespoons as per the instructions below
teaspoon vanilla
apricot jam

SAUCE
12 cups boiling water (375 ml)
1 cup sugar (250 ml)
2 tablespoons butter (30 ml)
1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 deg F/180 deg Celsius.
Grease a suitable oven dish, like a rectangular Pyrex dish.
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, and rub in the butter.
Add the beaten eggs, and then just enough milk, tablespoon by tablespoon, to make a fairly firm dough.
Roll the dough out quite thinly — on a surface sprinkled with flour — and form a rectangle, by cutting off bits and adding it on again.
Spread the dough with apricot jam.
From one of the LONG sides, roll it up like a swiss roll.
Cut this roll into 1-inch slices, using a serrated knife such as a bread knife. The jam WILL ooze out.
Pack the slices, cut sides up, closely together, in the greased dish. Scoop the jam which oozed out on the surface you used, and just plonk back onto these rolls.
In a pot, mix the boiling water (from your kettle), sugar, butter, and vanilla and stir until the sugar dissolves.
With a tablespoon, ladle evenly over the slices of pudding, but beware: you will have more sauce than the baking dish can take. Usually, you’ll be left with about 3/4 cup. KEEP IT.
Bake for about 40 – 45 minutes.
When the sizzling pudding comes out of the oven, carefully pour the extra sauce over the center slices: I find that, when baking, the sauce tends to pool on the sides.
Now the hot pudding will absorb much of the leftover sauce in seconds. Use as much or as little as you like.
Serve hot, with custard, ice cream or whipped cream.

This pudding will definitely have you come back for seconds and perhaps even thirds if there are any leftovers at that stage.

 

 

Middelburg – Run the Karoo: March

Middelburg – Run the Karoo: March

Run The Karoo entails a weekend of trail running in the heart of the Karoo from 11-12 March 2023! Experience authentic Karoo hospitality with braais, fresh farm bread, condensed milk coffee, koeksisters & craft beer amidst picturesque sunsets. Run the Karoo is not about crossing the finish line as quickly as possible but rather about a running experience like no other.
*Walkers welcome!

More information: https://runthekaroo.co.za/

ANNUALLY – MARCH

CONTACT DETAILS
E-mail: info@urbangoat.co.za

 

Middelburg – Ride the Karoo 50 & 100 miler: March

Middelburg – Ride the Karoo 50 & 100 miler: March

Ride The Karoo on a 100 Miler or 50 Miler journey through the beautiful Sneeuberg region experiencing wildlife, water point stops like no other to typical windpomp scenes along the way. The 100 Miler participants will be welcomed to a water point stop in the quaint village of Nieu Bethesda. Ride the Karoo presents a weekend experience where you will spend two nights at Dwarsvlei under the Karoo stars and be treated to a Karoo braai, fresh farm bread, condensed milk coffee, koeksisters & craft beer. The Karoo and its people truly show in the food!

More information: https://100miler.ridethekaroo.co.za/

ANNUALLY – MARCH

CONTACT DETAILS
E-mail: info@urbangoat.co.za

Middelburg – Winter Wool Festival: June

Middelburg – Winter Wool Festival: June

The Winter Wool Festival hosted by Middelburg Tourism will take from the 14th – 16th June 2023 in and around Middelburg Karoo.

The Karoo Winter Wool Festival is all about celebrating natural fibres and all things authentically Karoo! Come Dance the night away in a Karoo wool shed, run or ride through the beautiful Karoo Koppies, learn about wool, develop your crafting skills with wool workshops, marvel at unique South African made woolen products, indulge in delicious Karoo food and drink, make friends and perhaps some new business connections.

More information: https://www.karoowinterwoolfestival.com

ANNUALLY – JUNE

CONTACT DETAILS E-mail: info@karoowinterwoolfestival.com

    

 

Nieu-Bethesda – Garlic Harvest Festival: November

Nieu-Bethesda – Garlic Harvest Festival: November

Join in the fun at this annual community event as locals and visitors share their creative garlic dishes! Come and experience the likes of garlic rum, garlic ice-cream, garlic wors, garlic sushi, etc at Boetie’s Pub in Nieu-Bethesda.

This event generally falls over the first weekend of November.

Bring a cooked garlicky casserole-size dish infused with Boetie Bester’s garlic harvest to share at the community table!

Free entrance

Collect your garlic for cooking purposes from Boetie’s Pub.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/garlicharvestfestival

ANNUALLY – NOVEMBER

CONTACT DETAILS: Boetie Bester – 078 206 2925