South African koeksisters

South African koeksisters: Sweet delights. Image: Marele van Zyl.

South African koeksisters – Sweet, indulgent traditional treat

Ready, steady, start frying your own sugary South African treats for the ultimate indulgence!

South African koeksisters

South African koeksisters: Sweet delights. Image: Marele van Zyl.

Craving something sweet? There is only one cure and that is sugary South African koeksisters. After a few bites, your sweet tooth will be satisfied without a doubt, maybe for a few days. These sweet bites have been part of our South African heritage for a long time. They are a must-have on any snack table at a family or friends gathering.

A great tip is to prepare the syrup for your South African koeksisters the night before and allow it to cool in the fridge overnight. The next day, prepare your koeksister dough, plait the koeksister and fry golden-brown. For the juiciest, moistest South African koeksisters, make sure you dip the hot fried koeksisters into the syrup to allow them to absorb enough of the syrup.

It is vital to ensure that the syrup is really cold when dunking the fried koeksisters in it. So, you may want to consider dividing the syrup into two batches. Keep one batch in the fridge while using the other one for the dipping procedure. When the syrup gets warm, simply swap with the cold one in the fridge and put the warm one back in the fridge to cool down.

South African koeksisters recipe

5 from 1 vote
Recipe by Marele van Zyl Course: SnacksCuisine: South AfricanDifficulty: Easy
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

30

minutes
Total time

1

hour 

Ingredients

  • Syrup
  • 1000 ml 1000 white sugar

  • 500 ml 500 water

  • 1 ml 1 salt

  • 10 ml 10 golden syrup

  • 1 ml 1 tartaric acid

  • 2 ml 2 cream of tartar

  • 10 ml 10 fresh lemon juice

  • 3 ml 3 lemon essence

  • Dough
  • 500 ml 500 cake flour

  • 10 ml 10 baking powder

  • 3 ml 3 salt

  • 30 ml 30 butter

  • 1 small 1 egg

  • 150 ml 150 milk

  • oil for frying

Method

  • Syrup
  • Place the sugar, water and salt into a pot and stir until the sugar dissolves and slowly bring to a boil.
  • Boil for 8 minutes and remove from the heat and add the syrup, tartaric acid, cream of tartar and lemon juice and mix well. Place in the fridge overnight.
  • Stir in the lemon essence the next day before using the syrup.
  • Dough
  • Sift the dry ingredients together.
  • Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles breadcrumbs.
  • Whisk the egg and milk together and add to the dry ingredients and mix to form a soft dough.
  • Place in an airtight container overnight.
  • Roll out on a floured surface and cut into 7 mm strips.
  • Plait 3 strips together or roll 2 strips into koeksister forms.
  • Fry in hot oil until golden brown.
  • Immediately place in the ice-cold syrup and drain on a wire rack.

Notes

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