Sticky, deliciously sweet, crunchy and drenched in syrup, laced with cinnamon, lemon and ginger.
A traditional South African koeksister. Pastry plaits are fried till they are crisp and dipped in an aromatic syrup Koeksisters are prepared by frying plaited strips in oil, then submersing the hot fried dough into ice cold sugar syrup. Koeksisters have a golden crunchy crust and liquid syrup centre, are very sticky and sweet, and taste like honey.
A sweet South African heritage delicacy – crisp pastry plaits are fried and dipped in an aromatic syrup! Pastries similar to these originated centuries ago in Batavia in the East and the recipe brought to South Africa by the Malayan settlers together with many other. The syrup needs to be made in advance and chilled overnight. Submersing the hot fried koeksisters in ice cold syrup ensures optimal absorption. A fresh koeksister, still slightly warm and dripping of syrup is an unforgettable experience but if not used on the day of making it is best to freeze for later use and serve straight from the freezer.
There is also a Cape Malay version of the dish which is a fried ball of dough that is rolled in desiccated coconut called a koesister. Traditional Malay Koe’sisters are aromatic doughnuts containing warming spices like ground cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and mixed spice uplifted with the heady scent of aniseed and sometimes freshly grated naartjie peel.
A koeksister is plaited, deep-fried and immediately dipped into a cold sugar syrup, resulting in a crispy exterior. Whereas the Cape Malay version of the koeksister, is flavoured with cinnamon, cardamom, mixed spice and aniseed and dipped into a hot sugar syrup and dusted with desiccated coconut.
though often in Malay homes will be made with mashed potato, called bollas, cooked in an oblong shape and not plaited, and served rolled in coconut.’This Cape Malay Cardamom bollas recipe is a traditional yeast free buttermilk doughnut dipped in a fragrant saffron syrup that can be served for afternoon tea, iftar snacks or for breakfast when there are no Cape Malay Potato Koesisters (Spiced doughnuts) around.
A few years ago I brought these cardamom bollas to work during Ramadan for my non-fasting colleagues, and one claimed that it was the best cake he had ever eaten.
What are bollas?
Bollas are quick doughnuts leavened with baking powder instead of yeast. Bollas batter is soft and spoonable and they are similar to glazed donut holes, except that you don’t have to press out any shapes.
In a traditional Cape Malay bollas recipe the cooled doughnuts are dipped in hot sugar syrup and rolled in desiccated coconut flakes. In my modern version they are dipped in hot saffron syrup then rolled in finely chopped pistachios.
Although I had never eaten anything like it elsewhere, an Australian acquaintance mentioned that it was very similar to a Dutch recipe that she learned from her grandmother, called oliebolle. Our Cape Malay ancestry is varied as you can read in My Cape Malay DNA Ethnicity Decoded. I suspect that this was one of the many foods that we inherited from our Dutch and other European slave masters / ancestors.
In the Netherlands they have oliebollen; in France they have croustillons; in Italy they have fritole and in Serbia they have krofne. The Cape Malay bollas differ from these in that they are leavened with yeast while the bollas only contain baking powder.
Bollas are soft like perfectly rounded pillow puffs and are nothing like the crispy sugar soaked plaited koeksister recipes of the Afrikaner community. They are boiled in sugar syrup for a minute instead of being rolled in confectioner’s sugar like donut holes.