🇳🇦 Namibian Cuisine

Koeksister

Braided Syrup Doughnut

Prep Time 2 hours

Servings 12

Difficulty Medium

Calories 350 kcal

A golden, braided doughnut deep-fried and plunged into ice-cold syrup, creating a shatteringly crisp exterior and a sweet, syrupy interior.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
For syrup: 2 cups sugar
1 cup water
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cinnamon stick
Oil for frying

Instructions

1 Make syrup: boil sugar, water, lemon juice, and cinnamon until dissolved. Chill in the fridge.
2 Mix flour, baking powder, salt. Rub in butter. Add egg and milk, knead into a dough.
3 Rest dough for 1 hour. Roll out and cut into strips. Braid three strips together.
4 Heat oil to 170°C. Fry braids for 3-4 minutes until golden.
5 Immediately dunk hot koeksisters into ice-cold syrup for 1 minute.
6 Drain and serve. They are best eaten within hours.

Did You Know?

The secret to perfect koeksisters is the temperature shock — the dough must go from boiling oil straight into ice-cold syrup to achieve the glassy crust.