Devil 1, Norma 0

A Dutch friend recently introduced me to the work of the devil.

After tasting these, it didn't take me long to find a recipe and try to make them myself.  I am using my upcoming office holiday cookie exchange as the excuse.

I made my first attempt on Monday. As is the duty of any self-respecting baker, I did liberal taste-testing.  I consumed 6,000,333 calories that day. (How do Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, Delia Smith, the late Julia Child, etc., not weigh 600 pounds each?)

Anyhoo, I need work on the technique of sealing the pastry, but ohmyfreakinggod, these are delicious.  They are supposed to be made in the shape of letters, hence the name "Dutch Letters," and according to several sites I found online, the traditional letter is "S" for Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas or Santa Claus, if you will) Day, December 6th, but the one my friend gave me was just a strip. I found some speculation online that this could be a "stick" which is what non-well-behaved children in Holland would receive for Sinterklaas Day. This is of course just representative of the true "stick."  How could this treat be considered in any way a bad thing for bad children?  With this as the punishment, kids would be lining up to be misbehaved. I infer that my friend was very badly behaved as a child.  He was quoted in the paper as saying that eating these from the local church ladies' bake sale "really do bring me back" [to his childhood].

My letters could be an "I," one supposes, but since "I" had enough trouble sealing them in the first place, "I" was not about to start getting fancy and making letters.  So sticks it was.

Here's evidence of my first run. My photo skills cannot show you the flakiness of the puff pastry and the delicate bite and the sweet almond taste.

More practice of technique is needed, but messy or not, it's confirmed:  Work of the devil. Six million calories of pure bliss. My friend is out of the country, so he cannot judge how well I did with this first batch, but a couple of them are going in the freezer for him to try on his return.  I did everything as directed in the recipe, except I made the job easier by using the food processor for mixing up both the pastry and the filling, with excellent results. And I did not sprinkle sugar on the top, because I believe the one he gave me did not have that.  Next time I think I will put some of that oversized sugar crystal stuff on the top for wintry prettiness. Now I just need to learn to be more aggressive with the sealing of the pastry.

Or, say, for a holiday cookie exchange party, one could perhaps make a presentation something like this...

...in which the imperfections are no longer evident and it is cut down in size to two perfectly blissful bites.  Fewer than 6 million calories each, even.

I highly recommend the recipe.  It makes a delightfully flaky pastry and delicious filling.  I only got seven of these sticks, plus a round cookie that I made with the dough trimmings, out of the recipe.  I rolled the dough, I think, less than 1/4 inch, but more than 1/8 inch, thick.  I would not want to go any thinner for my personal preference, but maybe they would be neater if they were thinner and had less filling inside -- and then you'd get the 12 that the recipe says. 

Caveat:  If you want to come out as svelte as you went in, just don't make them.  Or go to the gym for about ten hours.

'scuse me.  I need to go to the gym for about ten hours.

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UPDATE:  Some people are having trouble posting comments to Typepad blogs. I've received a few emailed comments (appreciated!  thanks!) to this post, because people can't comment in the usual way.  I went in to ask Typepad to whitelist those people who've written. I guess they've put the anti-spam filter on hyperdrive, which accounts for some of you being denied the ability to comment.  The big losers are us, the bloggers, I guess, in this one, while we weather this storm.  Bleh. 

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE:  Keep commenting, even if they call you a spammer.  I mean, just comment once.  A new feature now puts any questionable spam comments into a spam folder that I can then go in and say, "No, Typepad, you were WRONG WRONG WRONG.  This person is NOT a bad spammer," and publish your comment.  So hopefully the problem is resolved.  Hopefully. 

Comments

[Teresa C]

Oh man, between you and Carole I should just get on the treadmill while I am eating, all 24-7.

[Kathy in San Jose]

Yum! Thank you very much (I think), although I gained 2 pounds looking at your pictures...

[Stephanie]

Yum.

[Carol]

Delicious calories was her name, but everyone just called her Norma.

[Manise]

The last photo is mouth watering. Definitely the way to go presentation wise. I'm afraid to even try these- I'll puff out into beluga like proportions!

[Jean E.]

pretty sure I gained three pounds. just from reading the recipe.

[Carole]

Those sound heavenly! It's dangerous to read the blogs these days!

[margene]

My guess is they wouldn't hold up well in the mail, eh? They sure look heavenly!

[naomi]

That is why I like to bake for other people or gatherings. :)

Those look wonderful.

[Anne]

Gee - the gym? What WILL you wear? :)

[Susan]

Yum--those are one of my childhood favorites. Try "gevulde koeken" (filled cookies, filled with almond paste) and "speculaas" (spice windmill cookies). Dutch pastries are amazing!

[Alotta.knittin]

Why do you DO this??? I'm sitting here salivating, wondering HOW can I possibly leave work early again today, AND putting on 50 pounds!! How can simple photos do that to a girl???? Oh Norma, you ARE bad!!! Such a temptress!!! Yummy yummy!!!

[Elisabeth]

Perhaps Martha Stewart and company also go to the gym for 10 hours a day?

Those cookies look divine--not devilish at all! :) Fortunately for me, all of my baking stuff is in California with my husband so even if I were tempted to make them, I couldn't.

[no-blog-rachel]

So...the cut up pieces. Six million calories per piece or per bite???

[Kat with a K]

Ooooh, yum. Looks great.

[marianne]

Mercy, Norma! that pesky devil!
Loved your last post and the framing on the botanical prints is beyond lovely, wonderful call on the linen.

[Katie B.]

My SIL is Dutch. I think I may forestall her having her mom send chocolate letters next year and make these instead. In fact, I may need to make some for this Christmas, too... *tummy rumbles*

[Cookie]

Evil temptress...

[Marisa]

Holy crap those look DELICIOUS.

And I'm not a spammer.

Though I do eat ham and jam and spam-a-lot!

[rachel]

You had me at "the delicate bite and the sweet almond taste," and then came those pictures. All those remarks about the six bazillion calories and increasing poundage didn't scare me a bit, only made them sound goooood.

[Andrea (noricum)]

The other day blogger thought one of my *blogs* was a spam blog, and locked me out. *pout*

[Kristen]

Oh man. Man-oh-man! I love almond paste...

[Kathleen]

yum!

[Lynn]

The Dutch also make letter shaped chocolates for Christmas. According to the google page I found (http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=521), the letters were used to identify gifts which were hidden under a sheet. The gifts under the first letter of your name were for you.

[Mary Lou]

Oh thank God I don't like almond paste.

[Deb]

MMMmmmm... I love almond paste fillings :} At the local farmer's market we have "Nick the Dutch Baker" and he makes the yummiest cinnamon cookie with an almond paste filling. The size of your hand, but oh-so-scrumptious. If it's got nuts, it's got protein, and I call it lunch!

[Amy]

Yikes, those look good!

[AmyP]

I wonder if this will get through

gggghghhhhhhhh...... [drools on keyboard]

[Debi]

600 pounds, here I come! I'm ok with being "fluffy" but even us fat girls have limits :)

[Laurie]

Hmmm. Would it be overkill to drizzle the end result with a teensy bit of chocolate?

[Abidevil]

Mother, would not it have been much more fitting, if these cookies were indeed pastries of the devil, for you to have consumed 6,666,666 calories instead of a mere 6,000,333?

Just sayin...

[Sarah]

Thank you, Norma. You have helped me to see one positive thing about my lack of energy and whatnot. I cannot bake and consume these wonderful treats. While it is true that I am missing out on a tasty delight, I sure cannot do the required exercise to counteract such caloric intake.

[Li_B]

A couple of months back I had the same problem commenting on Typepad blogs. The whitelisting didn't seem to work. When I changed from Explorer to Firefox all was well.
Li