The Sweet That South Africa Can’t Agree On — and What That Tells You About the Nation

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In South Africa, two completely different foods share one name. One is twisted into a plait, deep-fried, and drenched in ice-cold syrup. The other is soft, round, fragrant with cardamom, and rolled in coconut. Both are called koeksister. And South Africans have been arguing about which one is the real thing for generations.

One Name, Two Completely Different Sweets

Ask a South African to describe a koeksister and you will get one of two very different answers.

An Afrikaner family from the Western Cape might reach for a sticky, golden plait — crisp on the outside, soaked through with syrup, sweet enough to make your teeth ache.

A family from Bo-Kaap, Cape Town’s oldest neighbourhood, might offer you something entirely different: a soft, domed ball of dough, fragrant with cinnamon and cardamom, coated in desiccated coconut.

Same name. Completely different food. Welcome to South Africa.

The Plaited Koeksister — Crisp, Syrupy, and Unmistakably Afrikaner

The Afrikaner koeksister begins as a simple dough, braided tightly by hand and dropped into hot oil until deep golden.

The real magic happens in the final second. The hot koeksister is plunged immediately into ice-cold syrup. The temperature shock creates something remarkable — a thin, crystallised shell forms around a chewy, syrup-saturated centre.

In Afrikaner homes, koeksisters appear at church bazaars, farm stall counters, and Sunday morning tea tables. Getting the syrup cold enough is everything. The technique is passed from grandmother to grandchild the way other cultures pass down secrets.

The Cape Malay Koeksister — Spiced, Soft, and Born From Bo-Kaap

The Cape Malay koeksister — often spelled koesister — is a completely different creation. It is rounder, softer, and perfumed with cardamom, ginger, aniseed, and naartjie (tangerine) peel.

After frying, it is soaked in syrup and rolled in desiccated coconut. The result is sticky, fragrant, and deeply satisfying — it tastes like the history of the Cape itself.

In Bo-Kaap, these are made in large batches on Saturday mornings. The smell of warm spiced dough drifts out of kitchen windows and down the cobblestoned streets. Neighbours appear. Tea is made. The koesisters disappear quickly.

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How Two Foods Came to Share One Name

Food historians trace both versions back to the Dutch settlers who arrived at the Cape in the 1600s. The word koeksister comes from the Dutch koek (cake) — but the two communities took the original recipe in entirely different directions.

The Afrikaner version evolved across farms and small towns, shaped by simple ingredients and Dutch baking traditions. It became sturdier, sweeter, more structured.

The Cape Malay version was shaped by a very different history. The Cape Malay community descended from enslaved people brought from Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and India. They carried their spice traditions across the ocean, and those traditions transformed the original Dutch koek into something entirely their own.

It is one of the most beautiful stories of culinary reinvention in South Africa — two communities, one word, two entirely different expressions of who they are.

Where to Find Both Today

Both versions are still made by hand, from scratch, with care.

In Bo-Kaap, Saturday morning is the time to go. Community members sell koesisters from their homes and at local markets. Eating one warm on a cobblestoned street, with Table Mountain rising above you, is a memory you will carry home.

The Afrikaner koeksister is easier to find across the country — at Woolworths bakeries, farm stalls on the Winelands routes, and roadside tea gardens. But the finest ones still come from a home kitchen, served cold on a plate with a damp cloth over the top to keep them crisp.

South Africa tells its whole story through food. If you want to understand the Cape Malay heritage more deeply, this piece on Bo-Kaap’s oldest community is the perfect companion. And if you love the idea of South African street food born from hardship and reinvention, the story of bunny chow will stop you in your tracks.

In two sweets with one name, you find the whole of South Africa — its history, its cultures, its stubbornness, and its warmth. Come hungry. Leave with a story worth telling.

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Plan Your South Africa Trip

Ready to explore South Africa’s food culture in person? Our ultimate South Africa travel guide covers everything from Cape Town to the Garden Route, with tips on where to eat, stay, and explore.

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