PEPERNOTEN

40 gr soft butter,
50 gr brown sugar,
1½ teaspoon mixed cinamon and clove powder,
if you like with a little pinch of cinnamon,
100 gr self rising flour,
1½ spoon of milk,
a bit of salt.

Preheat your oven at 175°C.
Mix butter, sugar, spices and the salt.
Add the milk,
add the flour
and make a dough.

Form little balls of about 1½ centimeter
put them down and flatten them a bit.

They need about 15 minutes in the oven.
Be carefull not to burn them.

Children love to make pepernoten!
so have a little afternoon party!
Good luck!

BORSTPLAAT

1 cup sugar
3 tablespsoons of either water, milk or light cream
1 teaspoons of butter
a few drops of any kind of extract e.g. almond, fruit
if you want to: a few drops of food colouring.
Waxed paper or a greased plate.

Take a small sauce pan with a thick bottom;
stir sugar and liquid until it forms a paste.

Keep stirring and bring 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 if you want matching colouring.

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

Let bits of mixture drop
from the tip of a spoon on waxed paper
about 1/3 inch high.

Let it cool.

It will get solid, with a softer inner part.

You can make different tastes. My favorites

COFFEE BORSTPLAAT

use 1 1/2 tablespoons cream
and 1 1/2 tablespoons strong coffee
No colour.

CHOCOLATE BORSTPLAAT

Add to the sugar:
2 tablespsoons of cocoa to the sugar,
mix with 3 tablespoons cream.
Get all the lumps out before
you start to heat it.

Borstplaat makes a nice gift!

TAAI TAAI

You'll need:

250 grams of honey,
150 grams of syrup (treacle),
1 tablespoon anisseed,
two and a quarter deciliter of water,
250 gram patent flour,
500 grams reye flour,
1 tablespoon of fine cornflour,
1 small packet of baking powder,
20 grams of cookie herbs,
one to one and a half of deciliter buttermilk,
some cooking oil,
butter,
milk.
a mould, preferably a wooden one for taai taais.

Mix the patent flour, rye flour and the cookie herbs.
Take a pan.
Put in it: the honey, syrup, anisseed and water.
Stir while bringing it to the boil.
Pour it 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 and use 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 prevention
in waiting these two weeks!
To be honest
I like them too
when the waiting time is much shorter!! I leave the first mix
standing at room temperature
for a couple of hours.
And put it cool during the night.
Thus baking next day
and eating before the kids can.....LOL!!!

SPECULAAS

200 gr. cake flour
no extra baking powder needed.
75 gr margarine
100 gr (that is 1 cup ) brown sugar
1 or 2 tablespoons allspice
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of milk
about 100 gr. shredded almonds.
If you like to:
almond chips.

Put in a bowl:
cakeflour with margarine, brown sugar, salt, and allspice
stir or use your hands until smooth.

Leave it to rest
for about 10 minutes.

Roll it out on a floured surface
(to about 1/4 inch thickness).

If you have a wooden mold
press the dough in it,
turn the moud and pat the back
untill the cookie drops
on the baking surface.

Or cut shapes out of the dough Now sprinkle the almond ships over it
and press them partly into the dough.

Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes at 300°F.

Great with coffee or hot chocolate!
Enjoy!

AMANDELSTAAF

For the outer layer of puff pastry:

Frozen (and defrosted!) puffed pastry or:

1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter
1 cup sifted all purpose flour
1/4 cup (or more) ice water
a pinch of salt.

For the filling:

Use prepared mazipan or:

1/4 lb ground almonds
1/2 cup of sugar
1 egg
a pinch of salt
if you want to:
grated peel of one lemon
1 egg for brushing the dough with.
wax paper.

Use the guidelines of your cookbook
to make puff pastry.

Almond filling:

Beat the egg.
Mix it with: ground almonds, sugar, grated peel and salt.

Roll it into a sausage, about 1" in diameter.

wrap in wax paper and chill.

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.

Use a bit of water to glue the ends together.

Place this with the seam down
on the floured baking surface.

Shape this pastry into the required letter.

Brush the top of the letter
with the egg that is beaten with a bit of water.

Enjou the smell when it's in the oven
for 30-35 minutes at 425°F.

Take it out of the oven
and place it carefully
on a rack.

If you like to:
sprinkle icing sugar over it,
and place some grated peel of lemon on top.

You can use the same recipe
for a Christmas circle.
Decorate it then for instance
with sugared cherries.