SA classics · sweet treats
koeksisters
There is a particular kind of feeling that comes with making food that belongs to someone you have lost. The smell of hot syrup and fried dough took me straight back to her kitchen before I had even finished the first batch.
I made these for the first time in Perth in June, when my mother-in-law was visiting. We had a whole day of it, just the two of us filming and baking and eating our way through a lineup of sweet treats I grew up with. It was warm and loud and full and exactly the kind of day I needed. But I thought about my gran the entire time.
She passed away in 2021, the same year I got married. She never got to see me walk down the aisle, never got to meet Callan, never got to sit at my table in Perth and eat something I made for her. That is a grief that just lives in you quietly, and it tends to surface in the kitchen more than anywhere else. Making koeksisters without her felt bittersweet in a way I did not fully expect. I was emotional and high on sugar simultaneously, which I think she would have found very funny.
This is my version of the classic plaited koeksister. I made some with coconut and some without. And one small addition that is entirely mine: a splash of vanilla in the syrup, because I cannot help myself. Gran would probably have something to say about that too. I like to think she would have approved.
ingredients
500g plain flour
10g baking powder
5g fine salt
30g butter
250ml milk
2 large eggs
1L oil, for deep frying
For the syrup:
800g sugar
500ml water
2 cinnamon sticks
4 cardamom pods (optional)
Juice of 1 lemon
A generous splash of vanilla extract
method
1. Make the syrup first: combine sugar, water, cinnamon, cardamom and lemon juice in a saucepan, stir over medium heat until dissolved, then boil for 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. Cool completely, then chill in the fridge or freezer until ice cold. This part is non-negotiable — the cold syrup is what gives koeksisters their signature crisp, syrupy coating.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add milk and eggs, mix to a soft dough. Rest for 10 minutes.
3. Roll the dough to about 5mm thickness, cut into strips roughly 10cm long and 1.5cm wide. Take three strips and plait tightly, pinching the ends to seal.
4. Heat the oil to 180°C. Fry the koeksisters in batches for 2-3 minutes until deep golden.
5. Remove and plunge immediately into the ice-cold syrup for 30 seconds, then place on a wire rack to set.
the secret
That contrast — hot dough meeting cold syrup — is the whole magic of this recipe. It is what makes the outside crisp and the inside soft and syrup-soaked all the way through.