{"id":283494,"date":"2010-05-17T18:14:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-17T16:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stagingapp15670.cloudwayssites.com\/fine-speculoos"},"modified":"2010-05-17T18:14:00","modified_gmt":"2010-05-17T16:14:00","slug":"fine-speculoos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stagingapp15670.cloudwayssites.com\/en\/fine-speculoos\/","title":{"rendered":"Fine speculoos"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The fine Speculoos are cookies with a very particular flavor due to the spices and especially the sugar, the brown vergeoise. I give you my (secret) spice mix and my recipe that I tried several times before I was sure of the result. I have compared many recipes! I will soon post the recipe for thick speculoos shaped in a wooden mold with the image of Saint Nicolas. This one will differ by the presence of eggs.<\/div>\n
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Important note:<\/b><\/div>\n
I use for my spice mix recipe, dosages with American spoons. They are easy to use and offer a wide range of quantities, from tablespoons to 1\/8th of a teaspoon. Above all, they allow you to perfectly reproduce a mixture, without doing “au pif”! I always fill the spoons to the brim.<\/b><\/div>\n
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The etymological origin of the name of this cookie is controversial.<\/div>\n
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According to some, “Speculoos” comes from the Latin “species” which means spices or “speculum” which means mirror. Speculoos would be an image, the “reflection in a mirror” of a character. Others suggest the word “speculator”, which means bishop. It would then be Saint Nicholas, who is celebrated on December 6 by eating cakes in the shape of subjects: donkey, saint, flowers, etc. … Finally, a Dutch cake made in the 17th century with exotic spices from India and Africa, called “Speculaas”, could also be the origin of Specula. The name “Speculas” is still used in England, Holland and a little in Belgium. The ending “as” was gradually transformed over time into “os”, in order to give the name a more francophone sound and therefore easier to pronounce by the Walloons and the inhabitants of Northern France.<\/div>\n

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In this recipe, I don’t use any leavening agent, like bicarbonate or baking powder. The butter is largely responsible for aerating the cookie, and if you want to mould the speculoos and it contains yeast, then it will lose all its texture… But since Speculoos has no legal standard, you can do whatever you want… Having tried several processes, I give you my opinion and I think that my recipe is perfect for perfect speculoos…<\/div>\n
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Recipe for “speculoos”:<\/h2>\n
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Spice mix for Speculoos:<\/b><\/div>\n
-2+1\/8 teaspoons cinnamon powder <\/b><\/div>\n
-1\/4 teaspoon ground ginger<\/b><\/div>\n
1\/4 teaspoon of 4-spice mix<\/b><\/div>\n
-1\/8 teaspoon cardamom powder<\/b><\/div>\n
-1\/8 teaspoon aniseed powder <\/b><\/div>\n
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Speculoos dough:<\/b><\/div>\n
-170g of brown vergeoise<\/b><\/div>\n
-2 teaspoons speculoos spice mix<\/b><\/div>\n
-150g of very soft butter<\/b><\/div>\n
-250g of flour<\/b><\/div>\n
-2 tablespoons of milk<\/b><\/div>\n
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Here is the package of vergeoise needed for the recipe… <\/i><\/div>\n
Many recipes write that you can replace this sugar with brown sugar, but I disagree. It is precisely this sugar that gives the cookies their flavor. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Start by preparing the spice mixture by gathering all the spices needed for the preparation. <\/i><\/div>\n
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You can prepare double the recipe to have some in advance. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Place the brown vergeoise in a large bowl. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Add the spices and mix well. At this stage, you can already smell the speculoos!<\/i><\/div>\n
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Add the very soft (almost creamy) butter.<\/i><\/div>\n
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And mix well.<\/i><\/div>\n
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Add the flour all at once and mix quickly until the mixture is homogeneous, without insisting. The speculoos will be even better.<\/i><\/div>\n
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Add the two tablespoons of milk. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Then roll the dough into a ball. Put it on a stretch film and shape it into an elongated brick. By tapping the dough on the work surface, it is easy to obtain this rectangular shape. <\/i><\/div>\n
Let the dough rest for at least 2 hours in a cool place, or overnight if possible. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Preheat the oven to 190\u00b0C. Cut slices of slightly less than 5 mm. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Then place the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 190\u00b0C for 13-15 minutes. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Then let cool on a wire rack. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Store them in a perfectly sealed box!<\/i><\/div>\n
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\"Une<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sp\u00e9culoos fins<\/h2>\n
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Les Sp\u00e9culoos fins sont des biscuits avec une saveur bien particuli\u00e8re d\u00fbe aux \u00e9pices et surtout au sucre, la vergeoise brune. Je vous donne mon m\u00e9lange (qui a \u00e9t\u00e9 secret) d\u2019\u00e9pices et ma recette que j\u2019ai plusieurs fois essay\u00e9e avant d\u2019\u00eatre s\u00fbr du r\u00e9sultat. J\u2019ai compar\u00e9 beaucoup de recettes! Je mettrai bient\u00f4t la recette du sp\u00e9culoos \u00e9pais fa\u00e7onn\u00e9 dans un moule en bois \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9ffigie de Saint Nicolas. Celle-ci diff\u00e9rera par la pr\u00e9sence d\u2019oeufs.<\/span>
<\/div>Remarque importante:<\/span>
<\/div>J\u2019utilise pour ma recette du m\u00e9lange d\u2019\u00e9pices, des dosages avec des cuillers am\u00e9ricaines. Elles sont faciles d\u2019utlisation et offrent un large choix de quantit\u00e9s, de la cuiller \u00e0 soupe au 1\/8 de cuiller \u00e0 caf\u00e9. Elles permettent surtout de pouvoir reproduire parfaitement un m\u00e9lange, sans faire \u00ab au pif \u00bb! Je remplis toujours les cuillers \u00e0 ras.<\/span>
<\/div>L\u2019origine \u00e9tymologique du nom de ce biscuit est controvers\u00e9e.<\/span>
<\/div>D\u2019apr\u00e8s certains, \u00abSp\u00e9culoos \u00bb viendrait du latin \u00ab species \u00bb qui signifie \u00e9pices ou \u00absp\u00e9culum \u00bb qui signifie miroir. Le Sp\u00e9culoos serait une image, le \u00ab reflet dans un miroir \u00bb d\u2019un personnage. D\u2019autres avancent le mot \u00ab speculator \u00bb, qui signifie \u00e9v\u00eaque. Il s\u2019agirait alors de Saint Nicolas, que l\u2019on f\u00eate le 6 d\u00e9cembre en mangeant des g\u00e2teaux en forme de sujets: \u00e2ne, saint, fleurs, etc\u2026 Enfin, un g\u00e2teau hollandais confectionn\u00e9 au 17\u00e8me si\u00e8cle \u00e0 base d\u2019\u00e9pices exotiques des Indes et d\u2019Afrique, appel\u00e9 \u00ab Sp\u00e9culaas \u00bb, pourrait \u00eatre \u00e9galement \u00e0 l\u2019origine du Sp\u00e9culos. Le nom \u00ab Sp\u00e9culas \u00bb est encore utilis\u00e9 en Angleterre, en Hollande et un peu en Belgique. La terminaison \u00abas\u00bb s\u2019est progressivement transform\u00e9e au cours du temps en \u00ab os \u00bb, afin d\u2019apporter au nom un son plus francophone et donc plus facile \u00e0 prononcer par les Wallons et les habitants du Nord de la France.<\/span>
<\/div>Dans cette recette, je ne mets pas d\u2019agent levant, comme le bicarbonate ou la levure chimique. Le beurre s\u2019occupe largement d\u2019a\u00e9rer le biscuit et de plus si on d\u00e9sire mouler le sp\u00e9culoos et qu\u2019il contient une levure, dans ce cas il perdra tout son motif\u2026 Mais comme le Sp\u00e9culoos n\u2019a pas de norme l\u00e9gale, on peut faire ce que l\u2019on veut\u2026 Pour avoir essay\u00e9 plusieurs proc\u00e9d\u00e9s, je vous donne mon avis et je pense que ma recette convient parfaitement pour de parfaits sp\u00e9culoos\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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