Surprize 'em with Spice: Soft Speculoos

Tomato, tomaahto, Belgians say speculoos, the Dutch say speculaas. It's not my wont, but I've been trying baking recipes out of the newest issue of Velt's member magazine Seizoenen (Seasons). Here is a recipe for soft speculoos. Very common here is speculoos ice cream.

Speculoos is a cookie from the Low Countries, dark brown, because rye flour is used, with Santa Claus spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, etc, a true relic from days of yore when Portuguese and Spanish merchants opened up the spice routes. Unlike the Dutch, Belgians don't use aniseed.

Two caveats: one, this one isn't baked with rye flour. Two, extremely rich, very high in butter. I lessend the sugar content and served some pieces to the birds, because we were suddenly all wrapped in snow.

Soft Speculoos

By Emilie Heller in "Seizoenen"

Serves 4

1 kg flour
600 g dark cane sugar (I used 450 g, still too much for my taste)
4 eggs
500 g butter (this is a bomb!)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon speculoos spices (=a ready mix; I used cardamom powder)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven at 170 °C.

Melt the butter, combine all ingredients.

Smear out the dough mixture in a deep baking tin.

Bake for 30' at 170 °C.

Cut the speculoos at once in smaller pieces after it comes out of the oven. Let cool, fast, in a cool place, and save in a tightcly closed tin.

Note: smearing it 2,5 cm or 1 inch thick isn't perhaps so appealing to eat - use two baking tins, and smear less thickly, and when out of the oven, try to roll the layers like little cinnamon pipes. I'd try that next time.