South African Ginger Cookies Food

SOUTH AFRICAN KOEKSISTERS

Steps:

• Put the water and sugar in a ot and bring to boil on low heat. Stir frequently until the sugar is completely dissolved. Boil for 7 minutes.
• Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the lemon juice and vanilla essence. Put the pot into the fridge.
• Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder thoroughly in a mixing bowl. Break the butter or margarine into small pieces and add to the four mixture. Add the milk. Mix well until a dough is formed.
• Roll the dough out to a thickness of 5 mm (+ or - 1/4 in.). Cut the dough into thin (+ or - 10 mm or 1/2 in.) strips. Take 3 strips and join their ends on one side. Braid the strips to desired koeksister length and join other ends.
• Heat the oil in a pot until fairly hot. Put about 3 koeksisters (or what can fit)at a time in the oil and fry them on both sides until they get a golden-brown color. As you remove the koeksisters for the oil, place them directly ito the syrup from the fridge. It is important to keep the syrup cool, so between soakings, return the syrup to the fridge to maintain its coolness.
• Remove the koeksisters from the syrup and allow the excess syrup to drip off. Place them in the refrigerator to cool and then eat!

AFRICAN GINGER CAKE

Steps:

• Sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl.
• Rub in the fat thoroughly.
• Add the liquid and mix to a firm dough.
• Roll out on a floured board about 3/8 inch thick.
• Cut into rounds.
• Bake on a greased cookie sheet for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

SOETKOEKIES - SWEET WINE AND SPICE SOUTH AFRICAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two baking sheets with cooking spray. Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt together and set aside.
• In a deep bowl, cream the butter and the dark-brown sugar together, mashing and beating them against the sides of the bowl until they are thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, then add the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Beat in the wine and chopped almonds.
• With your hands, vigorously knead the dough in the bowl until it can be gathered into a somewhat firm, compact ball. If the dough then seems too soft, knead in up to 1/4 cup more flour, adding it a tablespoon or so at a time.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rough circle about 1/4 inch thick. With a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass, cut it into 2-inch rounds. Arrange the rounds about 1 inch apart on the buttered baking sheets. Then gather the scraps of dough into a ball, roll it out into another circle, and cut out rounds as before.
• Press a blanched almond half lightly into the center of each Soetkoekie and brush the entire top surface of the cookie with the beaten egg white-and-water mixture.
• Bake the cookies in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes, or until they are crisp and firm to the tough. With a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. The cookies will keep for up to two weeks in a tightly covered jar.

SOUTH AFRICAN CRUNCHIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 or 350.
• Melt margarine on low heat. Add the golden syrup and stir well. Stir in vanilla extract and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl sift in the flour.
• Add the sugar, oats and coconut stir well until evenly mixed.
• Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the margarine/syrup mixture. Use an electric mixer to make sure all is incorporated evenly.
• Press mixture into a sprayed 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Dough will be about a half inch thick.
• Bake 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown and depending on your oven so watch carefully. Edges may burn.
• Remove from oven and using a pizza cutter cut into 24 bars. Gently remove and place on a wire rack until cooled. Store in an airtight container. Freeze well.

CHOCOLATE PEPPER COOKIES (SOUTH AFRICAN)

Steps:

• Melt half the chocolate.
• Beat butter until light and airy.
• Add sugar and beat until completely incorporated into butter.
• Beat in eggs one by one.
• Combine flour and baking soda and sift into butter mixture little by little until incorporated.
• Mix chocolate into the butter mixture.
• Stir in remaining chopped chocolate and pepper.
• Cover and refrigerate until dough is cool and firm.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cover baking sheet with parchment paper ( or grease generously).
• Place tablespoonful of batter about 1 inch apart on sheet.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until crisp on outside but still chewy inside.

SOUTH AFRICAN RUSKS / BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 190c / 375f.
• Mix the 250g butter into the flour either with your hands or in a blender.
• Add the sugar, salt and baking powder and then mix in the milk and wine vinegar until you have a smooth dough.
• Grease a large baking tray with some of the remaining butter.
• Divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
• Wet your hands with a little cold water and quickly roll the dough into long dough sausages, about 30cm long.
• Arrange the dough sausages in parallel lines on the tray, dotting a few bits of extra butter in between.
• Bake for 45mins - 1hour until the tops are golden and crusty.
• Remove from the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 150c / 300f.
• The dough sausages will have joined together so cut down the lengths to separate them and then cut each sausage into 3cm pieces.
• Leave them to cool for a bit so that they are more manageable, then list them up and break them in half down the middle so they look nice and rustic.
• Return them to the baking tray, this time laying them on their sides and bake in the oven for a further hour (30 mins each side) to dry them out.
• Let them cool completely before storing in a closed container or paper bag, where they will keep well for up to around 5 days.

KRAKELINGE (SOUTH AFRICAN COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven 400°F.
• In bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg.
• Sift flour and baking powder together and stir into the butter mixture.
• Roll dough about 1/4 inch thick. Brush with the egg yolk, then sprinkle generously with sugar and then the almonds.
• Cut into narrow strips. Form each strip into a figure-8 shape.
• Bake on lightly greased baking sheet 8-10 minutes.