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Speculaas (, , , , ) is a type of spiced
Speculaas (, , , , ) is a type of spiced shortcrust
Shortcrust pastry is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart, quiche, pie, or (in the British English sense) flan. Shortcrust pastry can be used to make both sweet and savory pies such as apple pie, quiche, lemon meringue or chicken ...
biscuit
A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...
baked with speculaas spices.
Speculaas is usually flat in the shape of a picture and is especially popular around the feast of St. Nicholas and during the time of Advent
Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity.
The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''.
In ...
. The oldest sources on speculaas also mention weddings and fairs. In recent decades, however, it has become normal to eat Speculaas all year round, especially with coffee or tea, or with ice cream.
Speculaas is mainly made and eaten in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as in the German Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regi ...
and Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhineland ...
, Luxembourg and northern France. It can also be found in Indonesia where it is known as ''spekulaas'' or ''spekulaaskoekjes'', and usually served at Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
or on other special occasions.
See also
*Cookie butter
Cookie butter (Dutch: ''speculoospasta'', Danish: ''trøffelmasse'') is a food paste made primarily from speculoos cookie crumbs (such as Biscoff in the United States and United Kingdom), fat (such as vegetable oil, condensed milk or butter), ...
* Ginger biscuit
* Kruidnoten, a thicker, harder biscuit made without molds with the same ingredients
* Springerle, a thicker, anise-flavoured, moulded Christmas biscuit from Germany
References
Almond cookies Sinterklaas food Biscuits Christmas in Germany {{dessert-stub