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Niël’s pumpkin puffs

By Michael Olivier
4 to 6 as a side dish
Easy
25 minutes
20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 750 g pumpkin, cooked and mashed
  • 2 free-range eggs
  • 1 t sea salt
  • 125 g self-raising flour
  • 1 T baking powder
  • 2 cups sunflower oil
    • For the syrup:

  • 250 g sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup fresh cream or milk
  • 1 T butter
  • a pinch sea salt
  • a knife point white pepper
  • ½ t ground cinnamon
  • ½ t ground ginger
  • 2 t cornflour

Method

1. Beat together the pumpkin, eggs and salt until creamy. Sift the flour and baking powder three times, then stir into the pumpkin mixture to form a soft dough.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan until it is at medium heat. Drop spoonfuls of the dough into the oil. Fry small batches at a time as it makes it easier to turn the puffs. When golden, remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Keep warm.

3. To make the syrup, bring all the ingredients, except the cornflour, to the boil in a saucepan. Mix the cornflour with a little water to make a thin paste that looks like buttermilk. Stir into the syrup mixture and cook for a short while to cook the cornflour and thicken the sauce. Pour the warm syrup over the puffs and serve immediately. Niël says: “Geniet die ou-se-dae se lekkerte.” (Enjoy the deliciousness of the olden days.)


This is an extract with permission from Michael Olivier’s book Friends. Food. Flavour. Great South African Recipes. It is published by Penguin Random House South Africa and retails for R400.

Find more South African recipes here. 

Photograph: Mike Robinson 
Illustrations: Roelien Immelman