Koeksisters

Makes 4 dozen


Dough:

1250g Sasko cake flour

½ Tbs salt

165ml baking powder

1 ¼ cups milk

1 ½ cups water

5 large eggs

62g butter or margarine, softened

Oil, for deep-frying



Syrup:

12 cups sugar

6 cups water

2/3 cups lemon juice

1 ½ tbsp cream of tartar

1 tsp caramel essence (optional)
 
Instructions
 

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl.
Whisk the milk, water and eggs together and add to the dry ingredients.
Mix to form a soft dough then knead thoroughly for 10 minutes, adding a little butter or margarine in every now and then.
Cover the dough with cling wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
Make the syrup by combining the sugar, water, juice, cream of tartar and caramel essence in a large pot and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved.
Boil the syrup for 10 minutes then allow to cool to room temperature.
Break off a fist-sized chunk of the dough and roll out into a long sausage on a lightly oil-greased surface, then using a rolling pin, roll out to about 10cm wide. Cut into 1cm strips.
Take each strip then roll into a sausage, twist the ends around each other to form a koeksister shape and pinch the ends closed.
Heat the oil to 180C then deep-fry the koeksisters, a few at a time, turning often to brown on all sides, until golden and cooked through.
Drain from the oil and immediately plunge into the room-temperature syrup, making sure to keep the koeksisters submerged so they soak up the syrup.
Drain the koeksisters from the syrup and allow to cool.
To keep your koeksisters crispy, store them in the freezer. Remove them from the freezer 15 minutes before you want to serve them.