Koeksusters/Koeksister

Last week I watched my sister-in-law make koeksusters. This week I tried them out for myself.
The motivation? I promised to bring some for a lady that was helping us settle in here in Northern Ireland and I forgot them in South Africa.

Karliese kindly made some for me to give to Marcy.

The ones I made were such a success that we ate them all and did not share with anyone. Now I desperately feel that I need to return to my diet!!

I grew up eating the Malay Koeksister and my husband grew up eating the Afrikaans Koeksuster. We have many a time argued about which one is the South African koeksister, now Wikepedia has answered our dilemma - THEY both are!

Koeksisters

2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt 1 tbsp butter
¾ cup milk

1. Rub butter into dry ingredients.
2. Add milk and mix well.
3. Roll dough +- ¼ inch thick, cut into strips.
4. Plait and fry in deep fat till golden brown on both sides (turn over).
5. Put into very cold syrup for few seconds.

Syrup:

4 cups sugar 1 ½ cups water
½ cup orange juice 1 tbsp lemon juice
Grated zest of 2 oranges
1 ½ tsp cream of tartar

1. Boil the above ingredients together for 3 minutes and then cool.

(recipe can be made 2 or 3 days in advanced but cover well with greaseproof paper and keep in fridge).

"A Koeksister or koeksuster comes from the Dutch word koekje, the diminutive of koek meaning "cake". It is a South African syrup-coated doughnut in a twisted or braided shape. Best eaten cold, koeksisters are very sticky and sweet and taste like honey.
Koeksisters are of Cape Malay origin. The Afrikaner version is much more syrupy and crispy while the Cape Malay version's texture is more like that of a cake, spicier, and usually covered in dried coconut. There is also a difference in spelling, the latter generally referred to as koesister."