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Food for Every Soul

Hello Helpers! Welcome back to another edition of Food for Every Soul by myself, Mayathefirst! In this series I interview people from the Help Force about their favorite and famous recipes. For this week’s recipe, I decided to finally interview this og member that joined in 2020: HF Second Lieutenant: Xtra! (he never let me interview him until now)

I started off by asking him some questions about the recipe that Xtra decided to share with us today!


Welcome Xtra to our recipe series interview! Can you tell us what recipe you will talking about today?

Xtra: Koeksisters. Basically a South African donut which is friend and soaked in syrup!

Image


Can you tell us why this recipe is important to you? Is it a family recipe, and is there any history or story behind it?

Xtra: It’s a traditional South African recipe which is passed down generations each with their own twist. In my family’s case, the lemon in the syrup.


But here comes the best part, the recipe! (As explained by Xtra!)

For the syrup:
» 400g caster sugar
» 300ml water
» 1 cinnamon stick
» Pinch of chopped ginger
» Slice of lemon
For the dough:
» 260g plain flour
» 80g corn flour
» 1/2 teaspoon salt
» 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
» 2 tablespoons milk powder
» 1 tablespoon caster sugar
» 1 teaspoon ground ginger
» 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
» 1 egg
» 150ml whole milk
» 40g butter, melted

 

Directions:

– Making the syrup:

  • In a pot, add all the ingredients for the syrup. Give this a stir, then place this pot on medium heat and let it come to a boil.
  • Once the mixture comes to a boil, lower the heat and let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes. You want it to thicken slightly.
  • After 10 minutes, take it off the heat and pour this all into a bowl or a container.
  • Leave this in your fridge to cool. We want to use this when it is cold, it’s best to just leave it in the fridge overnight, but a few hours works too.

– Making the dough:

  • The next day, or a few hours later once the syrup is cold, you can make the dough.
  • Add all the ingredients for the dough into a large bowl. Mix all this together until a dough forms, then knead until you get a smooth dough ball. This can take around 5 minutes.
  • Once you get a smooth dough, place it into a lightly greased bowl, cover and leave this to rest for 30 minutes.

– Forming the shapes:

  • Once your dough has rested, you can start forming the koeksister shapes.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll your dough out into a large rectangle that is about 2-2.5 cm thick.
  • Cut this into 5-6 smaller rectangles.
  • Get one of the rectangles and cut this into 3 strands, making sure they’re still connected from the top. Brush the top of the strands with some water, now just braid it.
  • Place this onto a tray and repeat with the rest of your dough.

– Frying the koeksister:

  • You want to fry these in oil that is around 180c. Just fry them until golden brown on both sides. I find it easier to only fry 2 at a time
  • Take them out of the oil and let the excess oil drain off on some paper towel for a few seconds. Then place them into your cold syrup. Let these soak for about 30 seconds, then leave them on a wire rack.
  • Keep repeating until you’ve fried and soaked all of your koeksisters.

Koeksisters


Do you have any tips or tricks on making it or why people may like this recipe, or any memories from it?

Xtra: Don’t overwork the dough. Kneading it too much will make it tough and chewy which won’t be nice haha. Also taste the syrup every now and again to make sure it isn’t too sweet. Although these Koeksisters are like donuts, you don’t want them to be overly sweet.


Thank you Xtra for sharing this recipe, do you have anything you would like to add before we finish?

Xtra: Long live Xtraya, Bc I’ll make these donuts for you

Maya: Thats not even advice or something for the audience- 

Xtra: (I cant repeat what he says after this whole conversation because we would be here all day :runnn) 


Anywayssss, thank you again Xtra for sharing this recipe when it relates to a certain donut!

With that, we’ve reached the end of the post. I know you wanted to read more XD but I will be back next time with more fresh and delicious content. If anyone would like to share a recipe with us, DM me with your ideas!

Bon Appetit! <3

Keep Unleashing the Power Of Helping!

Mayathefirst

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