If you have yet to experience the melt-in-your-mouth magic from traditional South African koeksisters you are missing out! And if you have, then I’m sure you are already whipping together a batch of this yumminess!
The Magic of Koeksisters
The entire koeksister experience makes me think of the enchanting way in which some sweet treats are described in children’s stories. The way the sweetness hits the pallet, and the crunchy yet soft and creamy burst of flavour and texture that comes with biting into the first piece is nothing short of magical. It’s as though they come straight out of Willy Wonka’s factory!
Worth Every Moment
There is a bit of a process involved in making your batch of koeksisters. However, it’s really not as complicated as it may sound and ends up being quite a lot of fun.
There are two main stages. First, you make your syrup by boiling and then simmering sugared water until it has a syrupy consistency. Adding a touch of glycerine to this syrup mixture is a great trick for giving your finished and dipped koeksisters that candied shine. Then separate your syrup into two batches before refrigerating.
Secondly, you make your cookie dough like batter. This starts with mixing your dry ingredients, such as flour and baking powder, with butter. Followed by the addition of a milk and egg mix. Try to not overhandle your dough while mixing. Once your dough is mixed and has been refrigerated for at least an hour, it’s as simple as rolling it out and cutting strips that have the same width as thickness. Then platting your strips into a twisted shape before deep-frying and dipping..
The Trick to Making Perfect Koeksisters
Once you have your twisted strips of batter ready, all that is left is the deep frying and syrup dipping. The key here is that you don’t want your oil to mix with the sugary syrup mix. The best way to avoid this is to keep your oil hot and your syrup cool. So as soon as a koeksister is done with its 6-7 minutes of deep-frying, you remove it and quickly dip it into the cool candied syrup mixture. Once you have gone through your first half of batter your sugar coating will most likely have gotten a bit warm, so you can whip out the second bowl of still cold syrup and continue.
If you have a craving for something super sweet and want to try one of our other treats, have a look at our Homemade Chocolate Nougat. I seriously doubt you will disappointed!
Sweet and Crunchy Deep Fried Koeksisters
Ingredients
For the Syrup:
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- ½ tsp tartaric acid
- 1 tsp vanilla essence / 1 teaspoon grated orange / lemon rind / 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon / ⅓ teaspoon ground ginger
For the Koeksister Batter:
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups flour
- 6 tbsp milk
- 6 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
For the Syrup:
- Add the dry ingredients to the water and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Allow it to simmer for 10 minutes or until syrupy, 5 to 10ml glycerine can be added before you remove it from the stove for a shiny koeksister.
- Set the syrup aside to cool in the fridge at least the night before.
- Make two lots, or use only half, because the secret is to have the syrup as cold as possible. While dipping, not only change your syrup when it becomes warm but also keep the syrup placed in a bowl of ice and change utensils, as you do not want the syrup to be mixed with the oil.
For the Koeksister:
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips.
- Beat an egg thoroughly and add it to the milk. Add this to the flour mixture, taking care to handle as little as possible.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.
- Roll out the dough to a thickness of 5mm. Cut into strips that are approximately 5mm wide and cut each strip into three lengthways, plait the pieces pressing the cut ends together firmly when platted must be plus-minus 80mm long or make Minnie sized koeksisters, then you plat with only 2 strips.
- Preheat vegetable oil in a deep heavy-based saucepan and remove one bowl of syrup from the fridge.
- Remember to fry in batches of 6 in the hot oil for 6 to 7 minutes, or until dark golden brown, keep the rest of the unbaked koeksisters covered to prevent them from drying out while baking.
- Deep-fry the koeksisters in the oil until golden brown.
- Dip the koeksisters into the cold syrup, for a few seconds, whilst they are still hot. (Out the hot in the cold)
- Remove from the syrup with a slotted spoon immediately and place on a wire rack… In this method, you will still have the sweetness but will taste the biscuit of the koeksisterThe syrup will gradually become hot, so when you have done about half of the koeksisters take the remaining syrup from the fridge and use this for the balance of the koeksisters.