Speculoos, also known as speculaas in Dutch, spéculoos in French, and Spekulatius in German, is a type of spiced short crust biscuit.
Speculoos originated from the County of Flanders, which encompasses present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. The Dutch crafted speculoos using wheat flour, brown sugar, butter, and traditional speculaas spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, and ginger. These spiced biscuits are usually flat and often molded with traditional images, especially around the feast of St. Nicholas (Dutch: Sinterklaas).
While historically associated with holiday treats like Dutch Windmill Cookies, Biscoff Cookies, and German Spekulatius Spice Cookies its versatility extends beyond these traditional uses. There are several ways to incorporate speculoos spice into your culinary creations such as:
- Add a touch of speculoos spice to your classic chocolate chip cookie recipe.
- Toss whole almonds with melted butter, sugar, and a generous sprinkle of speculoos spice then roast them in the oven until golden and fragrant for a tasty snack or edible gift.
- Stir a pinch of speculoos spice into your favorite warm beverages.
- Sprinkle speculoos spice over waffles, pancakes, or French toast.
- Create a no-churn ice cream by infusing your base with speculoos spice. Enjoy it on its own or as a delightful topping for apple pie, crepes, or other seasonal desserts.
In this recipe the rhubarb and nectarine pair wonderfully with the warm, spiced flavors of speculoos creating a decadent tart.
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Rhubarb Speculoos Tarts
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Rating: 5
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Base
Preheat oven to 320 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the speculoos in the bowl of a food processer & process until finely ground. Add the salt, process once or twice then turn into a medium-sized bowl & mix in the melted butter until you have a sort of dough.
Place six 3-inch (7.5cm) metal rounds on the baking sheet & press equal amounts of the dough into each one, using a metal soup spoon to press them so they are even around the edges. Make a slight indentation in the center. Place in the center of the pre-heated oven & bake about 15 minutes. Remove and let cool.
Rhubarb
Place the water, sugar, ginger, vanilla in a medium saucepan & bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat so the syrup is boiling, whisking from time to time, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the rhubarb, stir gently so it is mixed with the syrup & return the syrup to a low boil. Shake the pan & watch the rhubarb as it cooks & stir if necessary. Depending on its texture, the rhubarb will cook in about 1-1/2 minutes, though it can take up to 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat. With a slotted spoon remove rhubarb carefully to a plate. Whisk in 1 Tbsp of cornstarch . Continue whisking until cornstarch is dissolved & syrup is thickened. Remove from heat & cool for a couple of minutes the gently stir in rhubarb. Allow rhubarb to cool until ready to assemble.
Cream
Whisk the sour cream with the vanilla sugar.
Assemble
Carefully remove tart bases from rings. Lay equal numbers of nectarine slices atop the crust with the skin out to the edge. Top with sour cream/vanilla sugar. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour.
To serve, top with rhubarb sauce & serve immediately.
While certain holidays such as Christmas, lend themselves to giving food as gifts, gift-giving should be thoughtful and sincere.
We give gifts during the holiday season to express gratitude, love, or friendship to those near and dear throughout the year. But the custom of giving gifts goes all the way back to the first Christmas when the wise men brought Jesus three gifts — gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Many of the gifts we give and receive at Christmas time, especially ones related to food, have symbolic meaning and tales of folklore behind them. Others are just fun to make and share with family and friends. Sometimes those food gifts become an anticipated tradition that the gifter enjoys making and the receiver looks forward to every year.
These Christmas cookie wreaths seem like the perfect gift for our neighbors. Hope they like them because they where a lot of fun to make.
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Christmas Cookie Wreaths for Gifts
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Ingredients
Cranberry Lemon Pistachio Cookies
Ingredients
Cranberry Lemon Pistachio Cookies
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Votes: 1
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Instructions
Spicy Wreath Base
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix until dough forms. Divide dough in half for 2 separate wreaths. Roll each half into a long strip about 43-inches long. On 2 sheets of parchment paper, draw 2 round circles each about a 13-inch circumference. Place on baking sheets. Following the circle outline, place a strip of dough on each circle. Press with the back of a spoon to flatten to about a 1/2-inch thickness.
Preheat oven to 310 F. Bake cookie bases for about 15 minutes. They should be baked but not overdone so that the centers are soft. Remove from oven & cool on a wire rack until ready to assemble with cookies.
Cranberry Lemon Pistachio Cookies
In a bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder & salt. Place butter & sugar in a bowl & beat with a mixer until pale & fluffy. Mix in egg yolks, lemon zest & vanilla. Reduce speed to low & gradually mix in flour mixture. Shape into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Roll out to 1/8-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch round fluted cutter, cut out wreaths. Cut out centers using a 7/8-inch round or star cutter.
Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. bake until just golden, about 12 minutes. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before icing.
Stir together powdered sugar & lemon juice in a small bowl. Spread each cookie with icing & sprinkle with pistachios and/or pepita seeds & cranberries. Yield: 24
Anise Shortbread Stars
In a bowl, sift together cornstarch, powdered sugar, flour & anise powder. Blend in butter with a spoon, mixing until a soft, smooth dough forms. If the dough is too soft to handle, cover & chill about 1 hour.
Between 2 sheets of parchment paper, roll dough out about 1/2-inch thick. Using a star cookie cutter, cut out stars & sprinkle with coarse white sanding sugar. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets spacing 1 1/2-inches apart. Place baking sheets in refrigerator & chill 30 minutes. Halfway through, preheat oven to 300 F. Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are just barely browned. Yield: 18
Persimmon Linzer Cookies
In a bowl, sift together flour & salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar & vanilla until light & fluffy. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as possible. Mix the rest & gently knead until dough comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap & chill for 30 minutes.
Prepare persimmon puree. In a saucepan over medium low heat, combine persimmons, sugar, cinnamon & salt. Simmer until thick, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, cool slightly then transfer to a small food processor. Puree mixture until smooth. Set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a 2-inch fluted LINZER cookie cutter with a star attachment in the center. Place on lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or just until edges begin to brown. Allow cookies to cool to room temperature.
Spread persimmon puree on the flat side of each solid cookie. Dust & decorate cookies with cut outs using powdered sugar & some more puree. Place decorated cookie tops on bottoms spread with puree, making a sandwich.
Assembly
Arrange cookies on wreath base to your liking. You can either 'fasten' them with an bit of icing that will harden (see notes) or just place them on top base. That way they are easy to pick up by guests without to much trouble. The base can be cut into pieces after the top cookies are eaten for some more cookie goodness.
Recipe Notes
ICING FOR ATTACHING COOKIES TO WREATH:
