Koeksister — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A twisted, braided doughnut fried until golden and immediately plunged into ice-cold sugar syrup, emerging glistening, shatteringly crisp outside and soaked with sticky sweetness within.

Ingredients

500g flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
50g butter
2 eggs
125ml milk
Oil for deep-frying
Syrup: 750g sugar, 500ml water, 1 tsp cream of tartar, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 stick cinnamon, pinch ginger

Instructions

1 Make syrup first: boil sugar, water, cream of tartar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and ginger until syrupy. Chill overnight or until ice-cold.
2 Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Rub in butter. Beat eggs with milk and mix into dry ingredients to form a soft dough.
3 Roll dough to 5mm thickness. Cut into rectangles, make two lengthwise cuts, and braid tightly.
4 Rest braided dough pieces in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5 Deep-fry at 180°C (350°F) for 2-3 minutes per side until deep golden.
6 Immediately plunge hot koeksisters into ice-cold syrup for 1 minute. Drain on a wire rack. Serve the same day.

Did You Know?

The secret to a perfect koeksister is the temperature contrast — the dough must be scorching hot when it hits the ice-cold syrup, which creates the signature crystalline crunch.