{"id":3093,"date":"2013-12-22T11:42:32","date_gmt":"2013-12-22T03:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/?p=3093"},"modified":"2013-12-22T11:42:32","modified_gmt":"2013-12-22T03:42:32","slug":"st-nicholas-speculaas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/st-nicholas-speculaas\/","title":{"rendered":"St Nicholas Speculaas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Christmas is a time for\u00a0giving.\u00a0 A time for helping those less fortunate than ourselves, for showing our\u00a0appreciation by passing on gifts of thanks.\u00a0 It is also a time that many of us use to spend with our families and loved ones because we realise how important they really are.<\/p>\n

For me this year has meant that I am extremely grateful to all those who have\u00a0supported me in my\u00a0Thermomix business.<\/p>\n

When I started working with Thermomix in Australia almost 3 years ago it was\u00a0because I saw an amazing product that I wanted to be able to show as many\u00a0people as I possibly could.\u00a0 Of course journeys evolve on a natural and maybe somewhat directed path with many trials and tribulations along the way.\u00a0 I can honestly say that my tribulations have far outweighed my trials, for which I have immense gratitude.<\/p>\n

For many years I have always made an edible gift for family, friends and work\u00a0\u00a0 colleagues.\u00a0 In the past it has been pistachio, white chocolate and cranberry\u00a0nougat, white chocolate and pistachio fudge, passionfruit curd, panforte,\u00a0shortbread, tomato relish and many more.<\/p>\n

This year I decided to make to make something a little more traditional, that had a little more meaning and also gave back.\u00a0 So I purchased the Devil of a Cookbook by Fiona Hoskin.\u00a0 This gorgeous book has some delicious (and simple) recipes and the all the proceeds from the book go to a great cause – the Devil Island Project that is trying to save the Tasmanian Devil.<\/p>\n

These yummy biscuits are a Dutch creation traditionally made for St Nicholas.\u00a0 Make them for those you love and cherish!<\/p>\n

St Nicholas Speculaas \u2013\u00a0recipes from “Devil of a Cookbook” by Fiona Hoskin.\u00a0 Buy it here<\/span><\/a>.)<\/span>
\nMakes LOTS!<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/span>
\n2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
\n1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
\n\u00bd teaspoon ground\u00a0ginger
\n\u00bd teaspoon ground\u00a0cloves
\n\u00bd teaspoon ground\u00a0cardamom
\n550g plain flour
\n1 teaspoon\u00a0baking powder
\nZest of 1 orange
\nZest of 1 lemon
\n300g sugar
\n200g butter, softened
\n2 eggs<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/span>
\nPre-heat the oven to 180\u00b0C.\u00a0\u00a0Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside.<\/p>\n

Places spices, flour and baking powder into mixing bowl and mix for\u00a05 seconds <\/strong>on speed 5.\u00a0 <\/strong>Remove from bowl and set aside.<\/p>\n

Place zests, sugar and 2 tablespoons of reserved flour mixture into mixing bowl and mill for\u00a010 seconds <\/strong>on speed 9.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Add butter and heat for 1 minute<\/strong> on 60\u00b0C<\/strong> at speed 4.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Add eggs\u00a0and beat for\u00a010 seconds <\/strong>on speed 5.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Add remaining flour mixture and mix for 40 seconds <\/strong>on speed 4.\u00a0 <\/strong>Scrape down the sides of the bowl if required and mix for a further\u00a07 seconds<\/strong> <\/strong>on speed 4<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Roll out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into the shape of St Nicholas or other shapes of your choice.\u00a0 Place onto prepared tray and bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until golden brown.<\/p>\n

My tips\/alterations:<\/span> *I cooled these on a wire rack.\u00a0 *When “zest” is used in a Thermomix recipe as above I use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the fruit.\u00a0 By mixing it with the sugar the Thermomix will create the fine zest that is needed.\u00a0 *This recipe makes a lot of biscuits (depending on how thin you roll them) and could easily be halved.\u00a0 *Not sure what I may have done wrong but I found this dough quite stiff when combining it all in the Thermomix.\u00a0 I decided\u00a0to mix it\u00a0in two batches and it worked well.\u00a0 *I rolled these quite thin because that is what I have seen Dutch biscuits look like but you can roll them thicker if you like.\u00a0 *I put mine into little cellophane bags and tied them with ribbon to give as gifts.\u00a0 *Get the kids involved in making the shapes, they will have loads of fun!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

e<\/strong>ase: 9\/10.\u00a0 <\/strong>The hardest part is the shapes.
\nprep time:\u00a030 minutes<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/strong>Once again the cutting out is what takes the time.
\ncooking time:\u00a015 minutes\u00a0<\/strong>(I did several batches)
\ntotal:\u00a045 minutes<\/strong>. (depending on how many you make)<\/p>\n

taste: 9\/10<\/strong>.\u00a0 These are delicious!!<\/p>\n

would I make it again:\u00a0 YES!! \u00a0<\/strong>My first batch has all been given away so I am making another batch tomorrow \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Christmas is a time for giving. A time for helping those less fortunate than ourselves, for showing our appreciation by passing on gifts of thanks. It is also a time that many of us use to spend with our families and loved ones because we realise how important they really […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[77,44,29,65,27],"tags":[5,115,102,135,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3093"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3093"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3107,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3093\/revisions\/3107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}