Winter doesn't want to show it's face yet in Israel, it's still so warm and no rain what so ever.
I waited for this season for sooo long, all through out the summer I thought never mind in November this will all be over again. But nothing!
It makes it all the more more difficult when my sister calls me, from Holland, a few days ago and tells me, with the excitement of a little girl, that it just started to snow and sends me this picture
I love snow I am just totally crazy about those day's when the snow is falling down, it is so quiet outside when it's snowing. It is like a big white fluffy blanket thrown over the ground.
Any way last year I wrote a post about speculaas cupcakes, speculaas is a typical dutch winter cookie, with the most wonderful combination of spices.
I decided, in order to speed up the winter gods, to post it again. Who knows maybe it will work.
Well and if not it's just a really really good recipe. So go and try it out and taste what a Dutch winter is all about.
Enjoy!
Dutch Speculaas kruiden are a mix of:
15 gram ground Cinnamon
2 gram ground clove
2 gram ground nutmeg
1 gram ground white pepper
1 gram ginger powder
½ gram ground hel (Cardamom)
Be very carefull using these spices, because your recipe will become very (too) spicey if you use too much.
For the cupcakes:
230 Gram flower
1 tsp Bakingpowder
125 Gram butter room temp.
250 Gram white sugar
Speculaas spices according to your taste
1 tsp Vanilla extract
3 eggs room temp.
100 ML milk room temp.
1/5 tsp salt. 1.
preheat oven 175ºC
2. Mix butter until fluffy and white , add sugar and eggs (one by one), mix for 3 minutes.
3. Add to this Sifted flower, baking powder and salt, milk, vanilla and spices . Mix this until it all comes together as a batter
4. put ± 12 cupcake liners in a tray and fill them for 2/3 with batter
5. Bake the cupcakes for 15 - 20 minutes. check with a tooth pick, if it comes out clean they're ready
6. Let them cool in the tray for 15 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack where they can cool.
7. While the cupcakes are cooling you can start making the butter cream
For the butter cream you'll need:
200 gram butter room temp.
1 tsp natural almond essence(or more if you like) -
175 gram confectioners sugar
10 ml milk at room temp.
Method
1. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until fluffy and white for about 3 min.
2. add confectioners sugar (spoon by spoon and scrape the sides of the mixer bowl often), milk and almond essence and mix for about 5-7 minutes at medium speed.
3. When the cupcakes are totally cooled down you can start decorating your cupcakes with the buttercream.
Here some nice ideas for decorating :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yl6IxVXUw8&NR=1
You can buy your ingredients from (of course there are more places but these 2 I personally like):
See you
I will be there also with my cupcakes, I'll try to make them in Retro style also.
