Delicious Koeksisters, served with a nice cup of tea are a real treat ! Koeksisters are a delicious, traditional South African treat which can be enjoyed served as a pudding or with afternoon tea. They are basically plaited twists of dough which have been deep fried and then dunked into a lightly spiced sugar syrup.
I am not a fan of deep fried foods, until it comes to koeksisters … ahhhhh …. although they are a real fiddle to make (not to mention fattening if eaten in large quantities !) they are well worth the effort.
The perfect koeksister is crisp and golden on the outside, and when you bite into it the sugar syrup squirts into your mouth as you eat your way through the perfectly cooked dough … and taste a little piece of heaven at the same time !
Here is one of my favourite koeksister recipes, taken straight from the pages of one of South Africa’s most comprehensive cookbooks “The Complete South African Cookbook” by Magdaleen Van Wyk -:
Koeksisters
Dough:
480 gm cake Flour
50 ml (4 tbsp) Butter or Margarine
2 Eggs
250 ml Milk
30 ml (6 tsp) Baking Powder
2 ml (1/2 tsp) Salt
Oil for frying
Syrup:
800 gm Sugar
375 ml Water
2 ml (1/2 tsp) Cream of Tartare
2 ml (1/2 tsp) ground Ginger
3 sticks Cinnamon
First make the syrup. Heat the water in a saucepan, add the sugar & stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Wash down all the sugar crystals adhering to the sides of the saucepan. Add the Cream of Tartare, ginger & cinnamon to the syrup. Boil, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Do not stir. Remove from the stove & chill in the fridge.
Now make the koeksisters. Sift the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add the butter (or margarine) & rub in with fingertips until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Beat the eggs & milk together & add to the dry ingredients. Mix the dough well, then knead lightly for 2 minutes to make it pliable. Cover the basin with wax paper & leave for 1 hour.
Roll the dough out to a thickness of 7,5 to 10 mm with a rolling pin. Cut oblongs 80 mm by 40 mm. Starting 1 cm from one end, make 2 vertical cuts in the oblongs so that there are 3 strips joined at the end. Plait these strips loosely, & secure at the loose end.
Heat the oil to 190’C/375’F & deep-fry the koeksisters for 1 minute. Remove from oil, drain on brown paper for 1 minute & dip in the cold syrup for 30 seconds. Remove from the syrup & place on a dish to dry.
Notes:
Handle the dough lightly & fry the koeksisters soon after plaiting.
The syrup must remain cold, so use only small quantities at a time, & leave the remainder in the fridge. Top up the syrup from that in the fridge when necessary.
Do not cook too many koeksisters at one time.
