A return, this week, to my never-ending quest to cook dishes I’ve not only never cooked before but had hitherto never even heard of.

It’s one of the best things about the Internet that I can go whizzing off around the planet from the comfort of my office chair, learning about the cuisines of almost any country or region I can think of, and research recipes and techniques I’d simply never have come across otherwise.

Libraries are great resources, but the ease and speed of clicking through page after page of information online makes my job so much easier and less of a slog.

This week, we delve into the strange world of the Koeksister.

I’d never heard of these delightful treats before, but was intrigued by a glimpse of one on the internet. A beautiful golden plait, puffy and plump, seemingly glazed with honey or syrup, with a big dollop of cream. Immediately I set about doing some research. The name, of course, suggests Dutch origins, but it’s actually a former Dutch colony, the region around Cape Town in modern-day South Africa, where this terrific recipe hails from.

Koeksisters are a sort of cross between doughnuts and biscuits. They are made from a lightly-spiced dough, which is fried until golden, then immediately dunked in ice-cold flavoured sugar syrup and allowed to wallow for the flavours to develop, a bit like a rum baba.

The dough contains no yeast, so they don’t inflate like the classic bready-textured doughnut, but the raising agents in the mixture do allow them to puff up a little whilst cooking, and soak up enough of the thick syrup to give a lovely texture, but not so much that they fall apart.

The local Cape Malay population, a mixture of southern Indian and Javanese immigrants (or slaves, to be absolutely honest – The Dutch East India Company have an awful lot to answer for), began cooking these treats in the late 1600s, and their popularity burgeoned.

Cape Malay

They are still a very popular sweet snack all over the country. The name refers to them being made originally by the community’s spinsters, all sitting round a large pot of sizzling oil, chatting away as they merrily plaited their strips of dough.

The original Cape Malay versions are plaited neatly, where the lazy Afrikaners seem to have bored of all that effort and simply make flat, round cakes, but I wanted to recreate that specific photo, and besides, the plaits look so much more tempting and delicious.

I made the syrup the day before, in order for all the flavours to mingle, and made sure it was ice-cold ready for dipping – I popped it in the freezer for half an hour just before I set to with deep-frying.

This allows a little of the syrup to soak into the hot pastry but not so much as to make them disintegrate.

I had a lot of fun cooking them, though to be honest my dough was a tad on the dry side, which made plaiting slightly more troublesome than it should have been. It’s best to err on the slightly stickier side, which will allow for a nice flexible dough, perfect for neat plaits.

The resulting koeksisters have a delightful texture, vaguely doughnut-y but actually more like a deep-fried cookie dough, with a good crunch. Add to this the light spicing of the dough, and the wonderfully rich, clear syrup, fizzing with citrus, ginger and cinnamon, and you have a wonderful dessert that is at once familiar yet strangely new and exciting.

And of course, authenticity dictates a large helping of ice-cold whipped cream.

Sometimes you just have to!

FOR THE SYRUP:

1kg unrefined golden caster sugar

800ml water

4 tablespoons golden syrup

30g fresh ginger, peeled and very thinly sliced

1 cinnamon stick

5 whole cloves

½ tsp black peppercorns

½ teaspoon citric acid

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

FOR THE DOUGH:

600g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting

a pinch of table salt

½ a fresh nutmeg, grated

1 tsp ground cardamom

2 heaped tsp baking powder

50g unsalted butter

375-400ml buttermilk

EXTRAS:

Sunflower oil, for deep-frying

400ml whipping cream

Ground cinnamon, for dusting

METHOD:

Make the syrup a day or two ahead. Place all the syrup ingredients, except the lemon juice in a medium saucepan over gentle heat, until the sugar has dissolved completely, then raise the heat and bring it to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer the syrup for about 20 minutes, until it has reduced by a third. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and refrigerate.

The next day, pass the syrup through a fine sieve and keep well chilled until you’re ready to serve. 30 minutes before starting to cook the dough, pop the syrup in the freezer to get it really ice-cold.

Now for the dough; sift the flour, salt, spices, and baking powder into the bowl of a food processor, and add the cold butter. Whizz quickly until the texture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Gradually add the buttermilk, a little at a time, mixing well to make a soft, pillowy dough. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes or so, until it forms a smooth ball. Cover with cling film and leave to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into 24 pieces, and roll each one into a long, thin sausage, about 20cm long.

Fold in half and twist the two strands together a few times, pinching the ends well to seal them together.

Place them on a baking tray, covering with a damp tea towel as you make each one.

Heat the sunflower oil in a deep, heavy-based pan to 180°C.

Deep-fry the dough shapes in small batches, 3 or 4 at a time, for about six minutes, flipping regularly, until they are a lovely even golden brown colour, crispy and cooked all the way through.

Carefully remove them using a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper for a few seconds, then gently place them into the ice-cold sugar syrup, ladling plenty over the top of each plait to give a good dousing.

Leave each batch in the syrup for five minutes while attend to the next batch.

Transfer the koeksisters from the syrup to a wide tray in a single layer.

Once all the koeksisters are cooked and dunked, pour the remaining syrup over them, and chill for an hour or so in the fridge before serving.

To serve, whip the cream to a soft peak and spoon a dollop over the koeksisters, along with a little of their syrup and a dusting of cinnamon. They will keep for a couple of days in the fridge, but really won’t last that long without being eaten.