Rooibos tea has been enjoyed as a hot or cold beverage by South Africans for centuries, but did you know that this flavourful tea is also a popular ingredient in the culinary world? South African twin chefs and Laager Rooibos ambassadors, @withlovefromthetwins Lebo and Tebo Ndala, decided to kickstart Women’s Month with a Masterclass for aspiring chefs at Reitondale High School in Pretoria on 31 July – with a special focus on Laager Rooibos tea as an ingredient in the Tea Tutorial and in the recipes that were taught to the students.

“We welcomed Grade 11 and 12 students, most of them young women, as well as members from the Gauteng Hospitality Board, for a dedicated Masterclass investing in young chefs,” explained Lebo Ndala. “We spent the afternoon talking all things food, future career options in the industry, inspirational chats and a Tea Tutorial.”

Her sister, Tebo, continued: “We kicked off the Tea Tutorial which included a tea-smelling and tea-tasting session while we spoke about our fantastic partnership with Laager Rooibos. We then had a fun cooking class, chatted about our favourite tea and answered some of their tea questions.”

To really entice the participants, Lebo and Tebo shared three great Laager Rooibos recipes which they developed using a Rooibos base – Laager Rooibos syrup.

The Laager Rooibos syrup is one of our favourite ingredients to use,” continued Tebo. “It can be stored in the fridge for weeks, used for pancakes, as a sweetener for your tea, a base for your iced tea, or a honey substitute for your dressing. We love it because it’s so multi-functional – in fact, we think we might have created something genius here! It’s such an honour for us to invest a bit of our time and knowledge into students who might decide to choose food as their career path.”

1. Laager Rooibos Syrup

Ingredients:

• 3 cups water
• 6 Laager Rooibos tea bags
• 1 cup sugar

Method:

To make syrup, boil the water, tea and sugar in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until the liquid reduces to half and thickens. Completely cool down the mixture and store it in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Pancake Cake with a Mascarpone and Laager Rooibos Cream

Laager Rooibos Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 2 tbsp castor sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 3 cups milk
• 4 Laager Rooibos tea bags
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp oil

Method:

Warm up the milk with the tea bags on medium heat in a saucepan until the milk becomes ‘rooibosy.’ Just simmer the milk, don’t bring it to a boil.Remove the tea bags and allow the milk to completely cool down.Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.In another bowl, whisk together the Laager Rooibos milk, oil, and eggs.Slowly mix in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the batter is smooth (pouring consistency).Divide the batter into two bowls and colour one bowl with a drop of pink food colouring.In a non-stick pan, on medium heat, using a ¼ cup measuring cup, pour batter into a hot pan, and swirl around until the bottom of the pan is covered.Once the bubbles start to form, flip the pancake to cook the other side until golden brown on both sides.Repeat until all the batter is finished. Set aside for stacking.

Laager Rooibos Mascarpone Filling

Ingredients:

• 2 tubs of plain mascarpone cheese
• ½ cup rooibos syrup

Method:

Whisk the mascarpone with Laager Rooibos syrup until it’s nice and loose. Add more Laager Rooibos syrup if preferred.

Assembly

Method:

On a cake stand, place a white pancake at the bottom, spread a bit of the Laager Rooibos filling on top and place a pink pancake on top.Repeat until all the pancakes and filling are finished.The top layer should be the mascarpone cream topped with fresh berries and a dusting of icing sugar.Refrigerate until ready to eat.

3. Laager Rooibos Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1 cup olive oil
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup rooibos syrup
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

In a jug, mix all the ingredients.Adjust seasoning and sweetness.Shake well before dressing your salad.It stores well in the refrigerator if there are any leftovers.

4. Lemony Laager Rooibos Iced Tea

Ingredients:

• 2 lemons, sliced
• 1 cup rooibos syrup
• 4 cups tonic water
• 1 bunch of mint leaves, to garnish

Method:

In a jug, add ice, sliced lemons, syrup and tonic water.Mix well with a wooden spoon.Adjust sweetness.Serve chilled and top with mint leaves.

For more recipe ideas and health tips, follow @withlovefromthetwins and @LaagerRooibosTea on Facebook and Instagram.