Koesisters (Cape Malay Yeasted Coconut Doughnuts)
The Cape Malay koesister is a yeasted, spice-scented doughnut of the Bo-Kaap and the Western Cape: a plump ring of anise-and-clove-scented dough, fried, soaked in WARM spiced syrup, brushed with apricot jam and coated in desiccated coconut. It is a different dish from the braided Afrikaner koeksister, not a spelling of it. The braided one is a chemically-leavened dough cut in strips, plaited and plunged into ice-cold syrup so the casing blisters; the koesister is bread dough, raised with yeast, and soaked in warm syrup so it swells soft and heavy. Chilling the syrup here would be wrong — a yeasted dough will not drink cold liquid the way a hot braid does, and the texture that defines the dish is lost. The jam-and-coconut coating is what makes it recognisable across a market stall. Two honest notes. The spice set below — anise, cinnamon, ginger, clove — is the common one, but households vary, and cardamom and mahlab (ground cherry stone) appear in some families' versions. And many Bo-Kaap cooks work riced potato into the dough; it keeps the crumb soft for days instead of hours, and it is the expert version here, not an invention.
पोषण
| प्रति सर्विंग | calories | protein | carbs | fat | satFat | fibre | sugar | sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beginner | 375kcal | 3g | 43g | 22g | 4g | 1g | 26g | 91mg |
| intermediate | 375kcal | 3g | 43g | 22g | 4g | 1g | 26g | 91mg |
| expert | 378kcal | 3g | 44g | 22g | 4g | 1g | 27g | 92mg |
प्रति सर्विंग · Ava-अनुमानित — एक गाइड, न कि चिकित्सीय आंकड़ा।
- 500 gall-purpose flour
- 7 ginstant yeast
- 5 gsalt
- 500 gwhite sugar
- 4 tspground cinnamon
- 2 tspground ginger
- 1.5 tspground cloves
- 2 tspanise seeds
- 1 largeegg
- 250 mlwhole milk
- 50 gbutter
- 1 lvegetable oil
- 200 gapricot jam
- 150 gdesiccated coconut
- 500 mlwater
- 10 mllemon juice
- 100 gpotato
Instant yeast straight into the flour, no proving theatre, and a syrup flavoured with the ground spices rather than a whole-spice infusion. Shaped into simple knots, which forgives uneven rolling.
Method
- 1
Whisk the flour, instant yeast, salt, 50 g of the white sugar, the ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves and crushed anise seeds together in a large bowl.
combine dry ingredients - 2
Beat in the egg and milk, bring the dough together, then knead five minutes until smooth, working in the softened butter a piece at a time.
It starts sticky and comes together - resist adding extra flour, or the finished doughnut is dry.
kneadTricky bit - 3
Coat the dough lightly with butter, cover the bowl, and leave in a warm place until doubled and pillowy, 45-60 minutes.
~ 53 min - 4
Tip onto a floured surface, press out to about 2 cm thick, and cut 24 pieces, rolling each into a rope and joining the ends into a ring, or tying a loose knot.
shape - 5
Arrange the shapes on a floured tray, cover, and rest 15 minutes while the oil heats.
~ 15 min - 6
Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy pot to 170C and fry four at a time for 2-3 minutes a side, turning once, until deeply golden and cooked through.
Test one first: if it colours in under a minute the oil is too hot and the centre will stay raw. A cooked one springs back and feels light for its size.
deep fryTricky bit - 7
Meanwhile bring the water, the remaining 450 g white sugar, the lemon juice and a pinch each of the ground cinnamon, ground ginger and ground cloves to a simmer until the sugar dissolves, then keep it hot on the lowest heat.
make syrup - 8
Lift the fried doughnuts straight into the hot syrup and leave five minutes, turning once, then drain on a rack.
The syrup must be warm, not cold - a yeasted dough will not take up chilled liquid.
~ 5 min - 9
Brush each warm, syrup-soaked doughnut with the warmed apricot jam, then press both faces into the desiccated coconut and serve.
coat