Flour was bought from the local mills, passing tradesmen or milled by the Boer wives themselves. Birthdays , funerals and christenings were very important  to the pioneers as were communion Sundays and for those occasions sweet dishes took pride of place. The women of the Karoo were excellent bakers, as they are today and their cakes and tarts are legendary. Koeksisters are a sweet and delicious treat and even though they didn’t originate in South Africa or belong exclusively to the Karoo, the Karoo produces the best koeksisters in the country. 

Ingredients

Syrup

• 375 ml water
• 750 g honey or sugar
• 2 ml cream of tartar
• 3 pieces of cassia
• Seeds from 12 cardamoms – I got about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons
• 4 pimento seeds, slightly crackedvin pestle and mortar

Dough

• 500 ml cake flour
• 30 ml baking powder
• 2 ml salt
• 60 ml butter
• 2 large eggs
• 250 ml milk
• Zest of 2 lemons
• loads of sunflower oil for frying

Method

Syrup

• To make the syrup, heat the water in a large pot, add the honey or sugar.
• Stir briskly until everything is dissolved and add the cream of tartar, the cassia, the cardamom and the pimento and boil for about 5 – 7 minutes, uncovered. Do not stir.
• Remove from the stove and set aside to cool down and then refrigerate over night – it’s a good idea to make the syrup the night before so that it’s very cold.

The dough

• Sift all the dried ingredients together and add the zest,  incorporating it well into the flour mixture.
• Rub in butter with fingertips, beat the eggs together and add to the flour mixture, kneading it lightly for a few minutes so that the dough becomes workable and smooth.
• Cover with wax paper or cling film and allow to rest for an hour.
• Role out the dough into 1 cm thick pastry – cut out pieces of about 8 x 40 cm and cut into vertical slices to form a plait. (Usually two strips are folded over to make a plait)
• Leave about half a cm at the top of the slices and start plaiting strips to preferred length – put back into the fridge if they are a bit soft.
• Heat the oil to 190 C and deep fry the koeksisters, a few at a time for about 2 to 4 minutes until a golden colour –  then remove from oil and drain well.
• As soon as they are done, dunk them immediately into the cold syrup for about a minut – allow to dry on a wire rack on top of a large tray.

Important tip:

• It is very important that the syrup is cold – the colder, the better.
• One could divide the syrup into two bowls and use one while the other is in the fridge and then swop.
• Some people make the syrup the night before so that it can get really cold.