November 16, 2013 - 9:06am
Speculaas Dutch Cookies
Today we've baked some Speculaas Dutch Cookies according to the recipe of Ed and Marieke from Weekend Bakery in Amsterdam.
Abel Sierra, Barcelona
www.breadgallery.wordpress.com
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Today we've baked some Speculaas Dutch Cookies according to the recipe of Ed and Marieke from Weekend Bakery in Amsterdam.
Abel Sierra, Barcelona
www.breadgallery.wordpress.com
Those look very good~ now I have to search for a recipe... Got it from the Weekend Bakery link in your post... Thanks... I am definitely going to try this one.
Happy Holiday Baking,
Diane
I made it according to this recipe:
http://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/quest-for-the-best-speculaas/
I am sure scientifically it has no effect on the taste but the traditional shapes do more than make them look pretty. Years ago they were made using boards, I wonder if they can still be found.
Gerhard
Speculaasplank.JPG
Hi Abel
Thank you for sharing the speculaas link. Having been to the city and sourced aniseed, today I have made a test bake up. No moulds, so used biscuit cutters - star and christmas tree shapes. Have tried many recipes over the years to try and duplicate the 'windmills', but have never been satisfied with texture or taste. These are wonderful. I'll be making more as Christmas gifts.
Cheers, Robyn
Thank you very much.
Abel, thanks for the link. It looks a bit different than the versions I've used, and will try it ASAP. Gerhard, I have several hand-carved molds of various sizes, some from a tiny Dutch shop in San Jose CA 20 years ago, gifts from family in Michigan (where the Dutch side of my husband's family is from), and last year found two on Etsy. They hang as wall art in my kitchen.
To make them successfully in the molds I've found that the dough must be firm & cold, the almonds thinly sliced and finely chopped, the mold properly seasoned, And you must be happy & not rushed. Then hopefully the Speculaas gods will smile and they'll all release in one piece. On a bad day, the cookie cutters come out. Figures with narrow necks are hard: Sinterklaas and Black Pete often get beheaded when you unmold, so if you're a newbie try simpler shapes. I do well with the windmills, wooden shoes and sailboat. When our kids were growing up we celebrated St. Nicholas Eve on Dec. 5 with a neighbor's family. We did the whole hidden gifts and poems tradition; they made dinner; I made Speculaas, banket, stroopwaffle (still make dozens of these each year - we've addicted many people to them), and sneeuwbollen. One of my husband's product reps in Amsterdam provided a CD of carols years ago. A fun way to teach kids an ancient tradition of part of their heritage - more creative than material-based, as US Christmas is.