Recipes

Dutch Pastries

Amandelstaaf (Almond Staff):

Outer puff pastry layer:

Marzipan filling:

Marzipan filling:

Beat the egg and mix in the ground almonds, sugar, grated peel and salt. Roll filling into a sausage, about 1" in diameter. Wrap the filling in wax paper and chill.

Make the puff pastry dough following the directions inn your cookbook. Roll it into a strip about 3 1/2 " wide and 1/8" thick. Place the almond mixture sausage along the centre of the rolled out dough and wrap the dough over it, using a bit of water to glue the ends together.

Place with the seam down on the floured baking surface. Shape this pastry into a log, letter, or circle for christmas. Brush the top with the egg that is beaten with a bit of water. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes at 425°F. Take it out of the oven and place carefully on a rack.

Optionally, sprinkle with icing sugar and grated lemon peel. Decorate Christmas Circle with candied fruit and maraschino cherries.

Borstplaat (fudge):

Coffee Borstplaat:

Chocolate Borstplaat:

In a small sauce pan with a thick bottom stir the sugar and liquid until it forms a paste. Keep stirring while bringing it to boiling temperature. Turn the heat down but keep cooking, without stirring until syrup spins a thread (240°F).

Remove immediately from heat add butter and a few drops of extract, and food colouring as desired.

Keep stirring long and vigorously until the mixture thickens and begins to make a scratchy sound.

Let the mixture drop from the tip of a spoon onto the waxed paper to form discs about 1/3 inch high., and let it cool.

It will solidify, with a softer core.

Pepernoten (literally Pepper Nuts):

Preheat your oven to 175°C. Mix butter, sugar, spices and the salt. Then add the milk, flour, and mix to make the dough.

Form little balls of about 1½ centimeter in diameter, and flatten them a bit on your cookie sheet.

Bake for approximatemly about 15 minutes, taking care that they do not burn.

Speculaas:

In a bowl mix the cakeflour, butter, brown sugar, salt, and allspice until smooth. Let it to rest for about 10 minutes before rolling it out on a floured surface about 1/4" thick.

If using a wooden mould, press the dough into it, turn the moud and pat the back until the cookie drops onto the baking surface. Otherwise use cookie cutters to form the speculaas. Finish preparation by sprinkling the almond chips over them, and pressing them lightly into the surface.

Bake in an oven pre-heated to 300°F for about 20 - 25 minutes.

Taai Taais:

Mix the patent flour, rye flour and the cookie herbs. In a saucepan, mix the honey, syrup, anisseed and water. Stir while bringing it to the boil. Pour the mixture through a sieve into the mix of the flour and herbs. Mix thoroughly together. Leave the mix in a bowl (covered with a cloth) for a least a week in a cool place.

A week later: Preheat the oven at 220°C. Mix the fine cornflour and baking powder. Sieve this into the bowl ith the mix that was prepared a week ago. Add the buttermilk. Stir thouroughly and well. Take the molds and oil them. Fill them, using a knife to get a flat surface. Take a flat, buttered, baking (oven) tray. Drop the shapes out of the mould onto it, leaving a space between them of about 2 cm. Brush them with some milk.

Bake dark golden brown in about 30 minutes at 220°C. Let them cool off and save them for at least a week to enrich the flavor.

Taai taai is highly addictive.... there might be some problem in waiting these two weeks! For a faster result, leave the first mix standing at room temperature for a couple of hours. Refrigerate overnight. Bake the following day, and eat before the kids can.....