Cookie #6 Speculaas (The Netherlands)

These biscuits have been a favourite of my father’s for years. I actually ended up trying two recipes. One I have had for years from a friend’s mum but it uses too much butter for a Queensland summer and although I put the pastry in the fridge to firm up, it didn’t hold the impressions of the cookie stamps. They still taste amazing which is why I’m posting the recipe but would be better suited to a biscuit that didn’t have a patterns stamped on top.

"Normal" cookie cutters? Pfft, nah, not in this kitchen!

These cookie cutters were bought a couple of years ago to make cookies for my dad.

Mexican wrestling mask cookie stamps courtesy of my co-worker's wife.

The second round of biscuits I made that had less butter in them and held the stamp better came from joyofbaking.com, a favourite baking site of mine and the link to the recipe is here.

Speculaas recipe

Ingredients
225g plain flour
1/2 t baking soda
170g butter
140g brown sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t of each ground nutmeg, cloves and allspice
1 1/2 t milk
pinch of salt
finely grated lemon rind from 1 lemon

Method:
Sift dry ingredients, rub in butter and add brown sugar.
Add milk to make a good kneading consistency (I didn’t need this in Queensland summer heat)
(Optional middle step necessary for me in the heat: wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 mins)
Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake at 180˚C for  20 mins.
Best eaten: With a cup of tea but they are lovely by themselves too.

Cookie #1 Melting Moments (Australia)

My first experience with melting moments was in Australia which was part of my reason for choosing this biscuit and the tropical taste of the passionfruit was a natural extension of that. I have had the recipe below for years and no longer know where to credit it to. I like it because I get to put actual passionfruit in the cookie itself so that the flavour is not just in the creamy filling. In my mind, melting moments can stand as a biscuit in their own right or as the sandwiched version that is more iconic.

These were shared with my friend Helen and most were left with her although some will come in to work with me tomorrow. I have to remind myself that my aim to bake my way around the world, not eat my way around it… :-)

PASSION FRUIT MELTING MOMENTS

2 large passion fruit
200g unsalted butter, softened
100g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g plain flour
75g cornflour or custard powder

FILLING
3T mascarpone
2T passionfruit pulp (strained, juice only)
icing sugar to taste

Cut two of the passion fruit in half and scrape out all the pulp. Next, either plonk the pulp into a bowl, seeds and all, or press it through a sieve with the back of a spoon, thereby extracting the juice (about 50ml) and discarding the seeds (I did these ones without seeds although my person preference is to leave them in).

Beat together the passion fruit, butter, icing sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, add the flours and work everything to a soft, smooth dough.

Preheat the oven to very low - 150˚C (130˚C fan-assisted)/300˚F. Line a tray with non-stick baking paper. Take spoonfuls of the dough and mould them into small balls (I use a teaspoon and have it rather heaped) then place on the tray spaced 2-3cm apart. Gently press the balls with the back of a fork (which is tapped in icing sugar to make sure it doesn’t stick) and bake for 30-40 minutes, until crisp and lightly coloured.

Most fillings are traditionally a butter cream of some variety but I had mascarpone at home and love it so used that instead.

Best eaten: with a cup of tea- especially if you're having them without the creamy filling.