Vetkoek with chocolate orange dipping sauce

South Africa's vetkoekies ('fat cakes' in Afrikaans) are a fried bread usually filled with savoury mince. But here they're converted to a sweet doughnut ready for dipping into the rich chocolate sauce.

Credit: Sarah Graham's Food Safari

• serves

  6-8

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp melted butter

Cinnamon sugar

• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 1 level tsp ground cinnamon

Chocolate orange dipping sauce

• ½ cup fresh cream
• 25 ml orange liqueur
• zest of 1 clementine or orange
• 200 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Mix all of the vetkoek ingredients together to make a smooth thick batter.

2. To make the sauce, heat the cream and orange liqueur in a small saucepan over medium heat until the cream reaches a gentle simmer. Add in the clementine zest and then pour over the roughly chopped chocolate, leave to warm through for 2-3 minutes and then stir until silky.

3. Heat 2 cups of oil in a deep frying pan and gently drop in the batter, 1 tablespoon at a time. The temperature of the oil should be about 190ºC (you can test by adding in a small drop of batter and it should come out golden brown in about 30 seconds).

4. Fry the vetkoekies for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden, depending on the size.

5. Remove and set aside to drain on kitchen paper, then serve as soon as possible with a dusting of cinnamon sugar (by mixing the caster sugar and cinnamon) and the chocolate dipping sauce on the side.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.