Speculaas spices
I have three different recipes for this:
1
20g cinnamon powder, 10g ground nutmeg, 5g ground cloves, a pinch of cardamom powder
2
30g cinnamon, 10g ground nutmeg, 10g ground mace, 10g ground cloves
3
30g ground cinnamon, 10g ground cloves, 10g ground nutmeg, 5g white pepper, 5g ground aniseed, 5g ground coriander
Speculaas
450 g plain flour
5 tsp baking powder
225 g soft brown sugar
2½ tbsp speculaas spices
350 g butter
50 gr flaked almonds
In a roomy bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar and spices. Rub in the butter (cut up with a couple of knives first if very hard). Then, using your hands, knead until you have a soft springy dough. Grease a baking sheet and press the dough onto it to a thickness of about 1-1½ cm. Decorate with the flaked almonds, brush with beaten egg and bake for about 30-40 mins at Gas mark 3. If you want neat squares, cut while still warm.
Marsepein
350 g blanched almonds
500 g icing sugar
1 egg white
2 tsp orange blossom water
Grind the almonds in a food processor until quite fine. Add egg white, icing sugar and orange blossom water (I suppose rose water would work as well) and process a bit more. Wrap in cling film and allow to cool in the fridge for a few hours before using to mould into figurines or squares. Add colours by kneading a few drops of food colouring into the marsepein.
Pepernoten
200 g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
150 golden syrup/treacle/stroop
2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp ground clove
1 tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground coriander
Sieve flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the syrup and spices. Stir, incorporating flour from the sides as you go, until you get quite a stiff dough. Grease a baking sheet. Make small balls of the dough (small hands are good for this), put them onto the tray and bake at 160'C for about 15 mins until golden brown and cooked.
Amandelspijs
100 gr blanched almonds
100 gr sugar
1 egg
juice of ½ a lemon
Best made a few weeks in advance. Grind the almonds in a food processor, incorporate the sugar and grind again. Beat the egg and add to the mixture with the lemon juice. Knead thoroughly before wrapping in cling film. Store in the fridge in a covered bowl. Use to make gevulde speculaas and banketletter below).
Banketletter
450 g puff pastry, defrosted
500 g amandelspijs (above)
1 beaten egg
Stack the sheets of puff pastry on top of each other and roll out until you get a square of about 30 x 30 cm. Cut in half and stick together lengthwise (use water) to make a shape of 15 x 60 cm. Mould the amandelspijs into a sausage shape that's 55 cm long. Preheat oven to 200 'C. Put the amandelspijs sausage onto the pastry and fold the pastry around the spijs, sealing as needed with water. Place onto a greased baking sheet, seam down and gently shape into an S or whatever letter you want. Brush with beaten egg and bake in the centre of the oven for about 35 minutes until golden brown etc.
Gevulde speculaas
250 g self-raising flour
salt to taste
2 tbsp speculaas spices
150 g soft brown sugar
150 g butter
2 tbsp milk
300 g amandelspijs
50 g blanched almonds
beaten egg
Put flour, salt, spices and sugar into a bowl and rub in the butter (cut up with two knives first if very hard). Add milk and knead into a dough. Press half of the mixture onto a greased baking sheet (square, heart shape or whatever). Put the amandelspijs on top, leaving a 1 cm gap from the edges. Add the remainder of the dough and press down at the sides to seal in the spijs. Decorate with blanched almonds, brush with beaten egg and bake just below the centre of the oven (about 150'C) for about half an hour to three quarters of an hour.
Taaitaai
Simple version
250 g runny honey
1 egg
350 g plain flour
2 pinches of baking powder
1 tbsp speculaas spices (or 3 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 tsp ground clove, 1 tsp ground nutmeg)
1 tsp ground aniseed
beaten egg to coat
Mix the honey and the egg together, add the rest of the ingredients and knead until you have a supple dough. Wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for an hour. Roll out on a floured work surface to about 1 cm and cut out figures or rectangles as wished. Place onto a greased baking sheet, brush with beaten egg if liked, and bake in a hot oven (200'C) for about 10-15 mins.