Saturday tasty treat: Cape Malay Koeksisters

You cannot go through Easter weekend without binging on hot cross buns and koeksisters. These two treats are etched in South African culture, always making an appearance during most religious holidays.

The below koeksister recipe is relatively straight forward to make and shouldn’t give you any headaches, just a delicious sugar rush.

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Cape Malay Koeksisters

Ingredients

• 4 cups cake flour
• 2 cups self-raising flour
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 2.5ml salt
• 10g instant yeast
• 10ml fine cardamom
• 10ml fine ginger
• 10ml fine cinnamon
• 10ml aniseed
• 1 large egg
• 15ml oil
• 30ml butter
• 1½ cups hot water
• 1½ cups milk
• Oil for deep frying
• Desiccated coconut for sprinkling

For the Syrup:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cardamon pods

 Method

1. Mix flour with spices, sugar, yeast and salt. Melt butter in hot water and mix milk. To the dry ingredients, add the egg, oil and milk-water mixture. Mix thoroughly to form a soft smooth dough. Leave to rise for about 1-2 hours in a warm place. Once risen, moisten hands with oil and roll dough into a sausage shape and cut into 2cm slices. Set aside to rise again.
2. Lightly stretch slices to form an oval shape and deep fry in medium hot oil until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
3. For the syrup – place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a slow boil, stirring to ensure sugar does not burn. Stir until the sugar syrup becomes slightly sticky. Boil the koeksisters in it for 1-2 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon. Sprinkle with desiccated coconut and serve hot.

*This recipe was created by Cape Town Capsicum student Imtiyaaz Hart and is courtesy of Capsicum Culinary Studio.

Cape Malay Koeksisters

The below koeksister recipe is relatively straight forward to make and shouldn’t give you any headaches, just a delicious sugar rush.

• Author: Imtiyaaz Hart
• Prep Time: 3 hour
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 3 hour 20 minutes
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Frying
• Cuisine: South African

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 4 cups cake flour
• 2 cups self-raising flour
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 5ml salt
• 10g instant yeast
• 10ml fine cardamom
• 10ml fine ginger
• 10ml fine cinnamon
• 10ml aniseed
• 1 large egg
• 15ml oil
• 30ml butter
• 1½ cups hot water
• 1½ cups milk
• Oil for deep frying
• Desiccated coconut for sprinkling

For the Syrup:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cardamon pods

Instructions

1. Mix flour with spices, sugar, yeast and salt. Melt butter in hot water and mix milk. To the dry ingredients, add the egg, oil and milk-water mixture. Mix thoroughly to form a soft smooth dough. Leave to rise for about 1-2 hours in a warm place. Once risen, moisten hands with oil and roll dough into a sausage shape and cut into 2cm slices. Set aside to rise again.
2. Lightly stretch slices to form an oval shape and deep fry in medium hot oil until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
3. For the syrup – place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a slow boil, stirring to ensure sugar does not burn. Stir until the sugar syrup becomes slightly sticky. Boil the koeksisters in it for 1-2 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon. Sprinkle with desiccated coconut and serve hot.

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