Where Must Becomes Bread

Mosbolletjies in Harvest Season

There is a particular smell in the air during harvest.

Sweet. Yeasty. Alive.

Fermenting must is one of those scents that quietly pulls people toward the kitchen. It carries the promise of transformation - grapes becoming wine, flour becoming bread, work becoming ritual.

Harvest here does not just stay in the cellar. It spills into the kitchen too.

This year, we folded strong fermenting must into a batch of mosbolletjies - a traditional Cape harvest bread made with grape juice at the height of fermentation. No aniseed in our version. Just the purity of must, flour, butter and time.

Hands in dough. Laughter over bowls. Flour on sleeves. The kind of mess that feels like belonging.

There is something grounding about working with ferment. It resists control. It requires trust. It asks you to wait.

The dough begins loose and sticky, almost unruly. By morning, it has softened and lifted - airy, elastic, alive. Rolled gently into pans, it rises once more before entering the oven.

Golden tops brushed with sugar water.A glaze that catches the light.

The first slice reveals a tender crumb, slightly sweet, with the quiet depth that only fermenting must can give.

We carried a plate outside, still warm. Bougainvillea overhead. Gravel underfoot. Mountains beyond. The kind of afternoon that feels suspended in late summer.

Mosbolletjies are simple. But in harvest season, they become something more - a small ritual that makes the long days feel like home.

A small reminder that transformation happens everywhere this time of year.

---

Mosbolletjies with Harvest Must

(Makes several loaves)

Ingredients

2.5 kg flour

6 eggs

250 g butter, melted

2 cups full cream milk

4 cups strong fermenting must (around 15-17° Balling)

4 cups white sugar

35 g dried aniseed (optional – we did not use)

Pinch of salt

For glazing: 3 tablespoons sugar dissolved in ½ cup warm water

Method

1. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl.

2. Blend the sugar, melted butter and milk together.

   
   

   

3. Beat the eggs separately.

4. Add the beaten eggs to the flour, followed by the milk, sugar and butter mixture.

5. Pour in the fermenting must and knead thoroughly.

   
   

   

6. Cover the bowl well with a blanket or thick towel and leave to rise overnight.

7. The next morning, knead the dough down. Form small balls and place them snugly together in greased loaf or round pans.

   
   

   

8. Allow to rise again for several hours, until well puffed.

9. Bake at 180°C for approximately one hour, or until golden brown and cooked through.

10. Remove from the pans and brush immediately with the prepared sugar syrup.

Allow to cool slightly before slicing - though very few ever wait that long.

Harvest moves quickly. Bread asks us to slow down and the season becomes something we can hold in our hands.