Food & Drinks

Who is sweet gets treats...

Hear who... Yes, friends, our hearts beat with expectation. The lovely evening has arrived. And what is a Sinterklaas celebration without pepernoten, gevulde speculaas, taaitaai, banketstaaf, borstplaat, and speculaaspoppen? Nothing at all. Now you can still make a dash to the store for the necessary treats, but you can also dive into the kitchen for a bit. And if I were you, I would choose the latter, if only for the smell.

1. Banketletter

  • 250 grams of medjool dates
  • 250 grams of blanched almonds
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • pack of butter puff pastry
  • 1 egg
  • handful of flaked almonds

1. Pit the dates. Soak the dates in lukewarm water for at least two hours. Drain and pat dry.

2. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

3. Puree the dates together with the almonds in a food processor.

4. Add the juice and zest of 1 lemon and mix it in.

5. Roll the filling in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

6. Roll out the puff pastry.

7. Roll the puff pastry with the date filling. Seal the roll on all sides with the beaten egg and press the edges well. Shape the roll into an S-shape and brush it with the beaten egg, which gives a nice shine.

8. Garnish the banketletter with flaked almonds and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

2. The easiest pepernoten rocks

  • 150 grams of schuddebuikjes
  • 100 grams of white chocolate

1. Melt the chocolate.

2. Take a large board and divide the schuddebuikjes into small piles on the board.

3. Spoon the chocolate over the piles.

4. Place the board in the refrigerator so the chocolate hardens.

3. Speculaas muffins with speculoos filling

  • 300 grams of spelt flour
  • packet of baking powder
  • 175 grams of dark brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp speculaas spices
  • 75 grams of butter
  • 200 ml milk
  • 4 tbsp syrup
  • 1 egg
  • salt
  • 4 tbsp Lotus Speculoos Crunchy spread
  • 2 tbsp flaked almonds
  • 10 muffin cups

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Take a large bowl and sift the flour and baking powder into it. Also add the brown sugar, speculaas spices, and salt and mix well.
3. In another bowl, mix the butter and syrup. Add the beaten egg along with the milk and mix together. Add to the dry ingredients and fold everything together.
4. Fill the muffin cups with the batter.
5. Put a heaping teaspoon of Speculoos in each cup and cover with some more batter.
6. Garnish with flaked almonds and bake the muffins for about 20 minutes until golden brown.