Koeksister champion gives away her secret tips
"I didn't expect to win but I am very happy. It shows that hard work does pay off," Retha Skein said.
MBOMBELA – Retha Skein walked away with R100 000 after her koeksisters were voted the crowd favourite in the Huletts Koeksister Competition. The 74-year-old, who hails from Caledon in the Western Cape, was crowned the 2016 champion at the Innibos National Arts Festival on Saturday night.
Skein, who bakes 30 to 40 dozen koeksisters every day in her own kitchen, “except on Sundays of course”, said she uses a recipe she received 45 years ago from Lenie Weppener of Jansenville in the Eastern Cape. She has perfected the recipe over the years by baking millions of koeksisters for the Caledon community.
She added that her koeksisters are “just sweet enough” for two very important reasons. Firstly, her recipe does not use eggs and secondly, the sauce is made out of a little golden syrup and lemon juice, and nothing else.
The koeksister competition is an annual event held by Huletts in partnership with the South African Women’s Agricultural Union (SAWAU) and the South African Chef Association.
Also read: Festivalgoers savour the best of the best
Daniel van der Merwe of Huletts said that bakers from around the country entered this year’s competition. Contestants had to explain what made their recipe unique, tell their koeksister story and submit a colour photograph of their creations.
“This year’s competition was very exciting as we received entries in the business, traditional and twist categories from supermarket suppliers, and from aunties who bake at home for their families,” he said.
“The twist category produced some incredibly interesting flavours – chilli, chocolate and rosewater, to name a few.”
Fifteen semi-finalists, five in each of the three categories, were chosen and had to bake koeksisters for judging.
From the 15 semi-finalists, three finalists were chosen. They were Skein, Marietjie Maree from Bloemfontein and Daleen van Schalkwyk from Benoni.
The three bakers had to each produce 3 000 koeksisters and deliver them to the festival grounds last Wednesday.
Innibos visitors were invited to sample the three koeksister recipes and vote for their favourite. They did not know which koeksisters belonged to which baker. Skein’s koeksisters were placed at the blue table.
Also read: What is Innibos without this sweet temptation?
When asked what she planned to do with the money she said she had not thought about it yet.
“I didn’t expect to win but I am very happy. It shows that hard work does pay off,” she said.
To see more of the Huletts Koeksister Competition, check out the gallery below:
