Koeksisters Recipe

Here is a great koeksisters recipe sent to us.

Syrup
250 ml (1 cup) water
625 ml (2½ cups) white sugar
12.5 ml (2½ tsp.) lemon juice
5 ml (1 tsp.) vanilla essence

Dough
375 ml (1½ cups) cake flour
22 ml (4½ tsp.) baking powder
1 ml (¼ tsp.) salt
20 g butter
150 ml (½ & a bit cups) milk
750 ml (3 cups) granola oil

Method
Put the water and sugar in a pot and bring to boil on low heat. Stir frequently until the sugar is completely dissolved. Boil for 7 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the lemon juice and vanilla essence. Put the pot aside.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder thoroughly in a mixing bowl. Break the butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Add the milk. Mix well until a dough is formed.

Roll the dough out to a thickness of 5 mm (±¼ in.). Cut the dough into thin (± 10 mm or ½ in.) strips. Take 3 strips and join their ends on one side. Braid the strips to desired koeksister length and join the other ends.

Heat the oil in a pot until fairly hot. Put about 3 koeksisters at a time in the oil and fry them on both sides until they get a golden-brown color. As you remove the koeksisters from the oil, place them directly into the syrup. Allow the koeksisters to absorb the syrup thoroughly. Remove the koeksisters from the syrup and allow the excess syrup to drip off. Place them in the refrigerator. Try to eat a few before the family gets home because once they get stuck into them, you "ain't gonna get none".