Koeksisters
The sweet taste of these twisted plaits of golden dough soaked in thick syrup until translucent make koeksisters a great favourite in South Africa. The secret of their success, is in preparing the syrup a day ahead and chilling it before dipping the koeksisters.
Ingredients
Syrup
1 kg sugar
500 ml water
2-3 sticks of cinnamon
3 cm fresh ginger (peeled and bruised)
1 ml (pinch) cream of tartar
Dough
240 g flour
20 ml baking powder
pinch of salt
30 ml butter
125 ml buttermilk
Deep Fry
vegetable oil
Method
Syrup
Bring water to boil, in a saucepan, add sugar and stir until dissolved (wash down sugar crystals adhering to sides of saucepan)
Turn the heat down, add cream of tarter, ginger and cinnamon and simmer for 5-8 minutes. Do not stir
Cool the syrup to room temperature
Divide it into 2 saucepans and place in the refrigerator to chill overnight.
Dough
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, rub in butter, add buttermilk
Mix into a soft dough and knead thoroughly (It helps if you oil your hands lightly when starting to knead the dough)
Cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave dough to rest for 15 minutes
Roll the dough out to a thickness of 5 mm and cut into strips 5 mm wide and 70 mm long or use a koeksister cutter if you have one
Press the ends of two or three strips together and twist or plait, press the ends together again
Keep the dough you are not working with covered with a damp cloth.
Deep Fry
Deep fry until golden brown on both sides
Remove with a slotted spoon and dip the pieces immediately in the ice cold syrup
Remove and place the koeksisters on a wire rack so that the excess syrup can drain
This recipe will yield ± 3 doz (85 g) dainty sized koeksisters - you can make them bigger for a more substantial treat.
Store the koeksisters in a sealed container in the refrigerator. They freeze well and can be served straight from the freezer.
Category: Sweets
Cuisine: South African
Sub-Category: Traditional