Koeksisters are one of South Africans best sweets invented ever, the literal translation of the work koeksisters is "cake sisters" and comes from the twisted shape and the fact that it kinda looks like a pony tail that has been chopped off.

The Ingredients:

Syrup:

500ml water
1kg Sugar
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Sliced rind and juice of 1 lemon

Method:

Make syrup the night before baking and Cool the syrup overnight in refrigerator.
Slowly dissolve the sugar in the water.
Add the cream of tartar, bring the syrup to boil and then simmer the syrup for 5 minutes. Add the lemon rind / juice before removing the syrup from the heat.

Dough:

500g flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons baking powder
55g butter, chopped info fine pieces or grated
1 egg
250ml milk.
Cooking Oil for baking.

The Method

Sieve all the dry ingredients together and rub in the butter with your fingertips. Beat the egg and add 250ml milk and mix it with the dry ingredients.

Keep adding water if the dough is too thick, stiff or cracked. Knead the dough until bubbly and soft and then leave it under a damp cloth for about an hour.

Roll out to a 1 cm thickness. Cut the dough into rectangles roughly the size of a business card (about 2″x3″) and pinch it at the end. Alternatively, cut the dough into strips the size you like them and plait the koeksisters. You can cut the offcuts in little bits and bake them also.

Heat about 7-10cm of oil to 180-190 degrees centigrade (300F -360F). Test it by dropping in some bread – if it goes golden brown then the oil is ready.

Remove the syrup from the fridge: To solve the problem of keeping the syrup cold, as you plunge all your hot koeksister in the cold syrup, you’ll need to keep it cold, you can put the syrup aside in a bowl of ice.

Fry the koeksisters for one to two minutes, or until they turn that yummy golden brown, on both sides then pop them into the syrup.

Lift your koeksisters out of the syrup with a ladle with holes in so the excess syrup drips back in, and then pop them onto a wire rack to cool down. Make sure your syrup is kept cold or replace the syrup with a colder bowl while baking.

Enjoy :)

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