Speculaas Recipe

Speculaas with Almond Filling

This recipe is loosely adapted from the Dutch culinary historian Christianne Muusers. It is perhaps a trace less sweet than the standard, commercially-made version. Christianne suggest putting a little rosewater into the almond filling which adds yet another layer of aroma to this profoundly spiced treat. To see her recipe have a look at her website www.coquinaria.nl Though just about everyone in Holland will just reach for a package of prepared speculaas spice, it’s worth grinding your own spices. They’ll be much more intense. I like to use muscovado, a natural brown sugar in the dough, though another brown sugar will certainly work. This recipe will make about 50 pieces of speculaas.

To make the dough, sift together a half kilo [4 cups] of white flour, 300 g [1 1/2 cups] of brown sugar, 50 g of speculaas spices (see below) and a teaspoon each of salt, baking powder and baking soda. Make sure the sugar is really well distributed. Then, add 300 g [1 1/4 cups) of butter that you have cut into small pieces, and using your fingers or a couple of knives reduce the butter into pieces the size of oatmeal flakes. Stir in 200 g [7 ounces] of sliced almonds and grated rind of 2 lemons, then finally stir in 2 eggs that you have stirred together with 4 tablespoons of cream. Gently toss this mixture with your hands until you have a rather dry dough. If it doesn’t hold together, add another tablespoon or two of cream. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

To make the filling, you’ll need 600 g [1 1/4 lb] almond paste. The easiest way to incorporate the additional ingredients is to add them gradually as you mix the almond paste in a food processor. First add one whole egg and then an egg white and finally a little rosewater. Add it tablespoon by tablespoon until the almond mixture is soft but not wet. Two tablespoons usually works for me but it depends on the almond paste. Refrigerate this too before using.

When you’re ready to bake the speculaas, set your oven to 175°C [350°F]. Take half the dough and roll it out to about half centimeter. Transfer this to buttered baking sheet. Use plenty of flour when you’re rolling out the dough and don’t worry if it breaks as you are transferring it. You’ll most likely need to cut it and patch it anyway to make it into an even rectangle. with it. Spread the almond paste over the dough, leaving a border of about one centimeter naked. Roll our the rest of the dough, drape it over the stuffing and press down on the edges to seal. Brush generously with egg then, with a knife, trace a pattern of lozenges over the surface. You can also decorate the top with whole, blanched almonds. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven until firm a rich brown. Make sure to cut into pieces before it cools completely. I usually cut into squares or diamonds of about six centimeters.

To make the speculaas spice mix you’ll need to combine 32g cinnamon, 8g nutmeg, 8g cloves, 4g white pepper, 4g ginger and 4g cardamom seed. If the spices are freshly ground they will taste infinitely better. If you don’t have a decent scale, you can get away with measuring the spice by teaspoons and tablespoons: you’ll need 4 tablespoons cinnamon, 1 tablespoon each of nutmeg and cloves, and 1½ teaspoons each of white pepper, ginger and cardamom seed.