Syrupy Koeksisters – Sweet and sticky South African treat

Indulge in the sweetness of our South African heritage. Put your culinary skills to the test with this crispy, syrupy koeksisters recipe. This traditional recipe is ever trendy and so much entrenched in South African culture.  

These deep-fried crispy braided pastry snacks are infused with ice-cold syrup resulting in the most deliciously moist sugary treats. Preparing syrupy koeksisters can certainly be classified as a labour of love as you must take your time to plait the strips of dough before deep-frying them in batches. But the sweet result is worth every moment spent.

The secret to getting your syrupy koeksisters crispy on the outside and tender on the inside exuding syrup is to immerse the koeksisters in ice-cold syrup immediately when removing them from the oil.

This is South African indulgence at its best!

Koeksisters Recipe

Recipe by Dirnise Britz Course: SnacksCuisine: South AfricanDifficulty: Easy

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Resting Time

2

hours 

20

minutes

Total time

3

hours 

5

minutes

Ingredients

• Syrup

• 10 cups 10 sugar

• 5 cups 5 water

• ½ teaspoon ½ cream of tartar

• 1 teaspoon 1 lemon juice

• Koeksisters

• 2 2 eggs

• 4 teaspoons 4 baking powder

• 4 cups 4 all purpose flour

• pinch pinch of salt

Method

• Syrup
• Boil all the syrup ingredients for 5 minutes.
  Allow to cool to room temperature and place in the fridge overnight.
• Koeksisters
• Sift the dry ingredients together.
• Crack one egg into a cup and fill the cup with water. Mix well.
• Add the egg-water mixture to the dry ingredients.
• Crack the other egg also in a cup and fill the cup with water. Mix well.
• Add the second egg-water mixture to the dough.
• Allow the dough to rest for about two hours.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 5 mm. Cut the dough into 10 mm strips. Take three strips and braid together Repeat until all the strips are twisted together. Allow the braided strips to rest for 20 minutes.
• Heat three cups of oil in a deep pot. Insert two or the number of koeksisters that can fit into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides.
• As soon as you remove the fried koeksisters from the hot oil, dip them immediately into the cold syrup for about 15 seconds.
• Remove the koeksisters from the syrup and place in the fridge to cool off.
• Remember to return the syrup to the fridge from time to time so that it will remain cold.

Notes

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Looking for more finger-licking South African snack recipes to prepare for your family and friends during the cold winter months? We have so many options for you to try out, just have a look at our recipe page.

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