TAKE THE spice route

Rooibos koesisters

This dish is my take on Kubra Mohamed’s recipe in Bo-Kaap Kitchen – using rooibos, aniseed, cinnamon and lemon zest.

Makes about 30 koesisters Preparation time: 2 hours Cooking time: about 35 minutes

• 125ml light brown sugar
• 60g softened butter
• 175ml rooibos tea, hot
• 125ml milk
• 10ml each cinnamon and aniseed
• 10g instant yeast
• 1 medium egg
• 500g flour, plus a little extra for kneading
• oil for deep-frying
• desiccated coconut for rolling

SYRUP

• 250ml water
• 250ml light brown sugar
• 1 strip orange peel

Mix the sugar and butter and stir in the hot tea to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar, followed by the milk to cool it again. Make sure the mixture is lukewarm – if it is too hot, the yeast will lose its potency. Beat in the spices, yeast and egg until well mixed. Add the flour and mix to form a sticky dough. Knead patiently until smooth and elastic. Try not to add too much extra flour; rather use