Koeksisters Recipe

If you have a sweet tooth, then you'll love koeksisters! This is a recipe for one of South Africa's best-loved baked sweet. Koeksister is derived from the Dutch word koekje, which means "cookie" and is a syrup-coated doughnut in either a twisted or braided shape. 

South Africa, being a cultural pot, has two types of koeksister - the Cape Malay and the Afrikaner. The former is spicier and usually covered in dried coconut, while the latter has more syrup and is crispier.

(BRAIDED) KOEKSISTERS RECIPE

Ingredients – dough

2 cups cake flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 large egg
4 tbsp butter/margarine
½ cup of water
oil for frying

Ingredients – syrup

1kg sugar
1 ½ cinnamon sticks
½ tsp ground ginger
1 ½ cups of water
juice of one lemon

Directions – syrup (Prepare the day before as needs to be very cold)

1. Dissolve sugar in the water
2. Add the spices and lemon juice to the mix and bring to boil until it thicken
3. Leave the syrup cool in the fridge overnight

Directions – dough

1. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together
2. Rub in the butter and mix until pliable
3. Add the egg and water (adding the water a little bit at a time)
4. Work the dough well until the lumps disappear. Continue to work until it balls up
5. Let the dough rest at room temperature for about three hours (under an inverted mixing bowl)

Preparation

1. Roll the dough dough out to a thickness of 5mm
2. Cut the dough into strips of 6cm long x 2cm wide
3. Cut each of these strips into three more strips leaving the strips connected at the top
4. Braid each strip and pinch together at the end
5. Deep fry until golden brown
6. Remove from the oil, drain and quickly dip the koeksisters into the cold syrup