Koeksisters

I am always told that making Koeksisters is not that easy and yes, I actually believe it. I had some amazing Koeksisters, but then again, I had some really terrible stuff, so bad that I would not serve it to a guest, never mind a friend.The perfect Koeksister, for me at least, is crispy on the outside and so juicy in the inside that if one bites off a piece the syrup is running down ones chin, yummie!!!!! I like to keep the Koeksisters in the freezer, they hold perfectly and one can nibble them at any time. They are not overly sweet when eaten directly from the freezer, like that they have something refreshing to it.

So having some time on my hands I am trying myself on making the first batch, I got this really easy looking recipe and off I go! I have to admit so that I have changed it from the original recipe as that one couldn't possibly work, it did not have enough liquid to make the dough soft. I am writing recipes nearly on a daily base as part of my job and over the years got a feeling for quantities so it is actually a bit annoying when I read recipes in publications and I just know that the result will not be good or they won't work the way they should. Now this recipe does work.

For the Koeksisters

1 kg Cake flour

60 g Baking powder

80 g Butter

1 Pinch Salt

450 ml Milk

2 ea Eggs

For the Syrup

5 kg Sugar

2.2 l Water

1 Cinnamon stick

200 g Ginger

1 Lime

3 Cloves

15 g Cream of tartar

For the dough rub butter with the flour till crumbly, then add all the other ingredients and work quickly to a soft dough. Let the dough rest for at least 2 hours.

Roll the dough to 5 mm thickness and form the Koeksisters. To get the shape of the Koeksisters one cuts rectangles about 7 cm long and 3 cm wide. Then one makes a cut in the middle, lengthwise. Then the one end gets pulled through the incision and voila!

Fry them in hot oil till golden brown.

When they are cooked put them immediately in the ice cold syrup. Leave them to soak for a little while and then drain them off.

It makes about 80 Koeksisters

For the syrup add all the ingredients together and heat up till the sugar is completely dissolved. Do not boil the mix. Then cool the syrup down and keep in the freezer over night, to get the best result the syrup must be ice cold.

For the followers of my blog you might see that they are actually very similar to the Tulumbas from Turkey, just that the shape is a bit different.