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Today I baked speculaas. I used a recipe that came from McCall's Holiday Baking and Entertaining (probably about 25 or more years ago) that I have baked before using ceramic cookie molds, but this time I wanted to use some of my vast collection of springerle molds. I also looked at the KAF recipe which was in a recent catalogue and is posted on their site:
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/speculaas-spiced-springerle-recipe
The two recipes are close, except that mine is set up to make twice as many (double the flour and butter) and uses brown sugar as well as 1/8 tsp. baking powder instead of 1/4 tsp. baking soda. Mine also uses just one egg. I was intrigued by the KAF addition of almond flour, but I decided to use just 1/2 cup (in addition to the regular flour) rather than doubling it to a whole cup for my recipe. I made the dough last night, rolled it 1/4-inch thick then refrigerated each half on cookie sheets, covered in saran.
Next time, I will not refrigerate the dough for so long. I had to wait a while for it to warm up so that I could imprint it, using a springerle mold (the hearth one KAF sold in a previous year), which I dusted each time with powdered sugar. I really had to bang down on the mold to get the design imprinted, so softer dough next time, and maybe I won't hurt the sides of my hands banging down on the mold. The designs were good, but when I baked them (350 for 20 minutes, as my recipe states), too much of the nice detail was lost. The later sheet did better than the first one, but I still would like the sharp detail.
I note that the KAF recipe calls for baking at 300F for 25-30 minutes, after freezing for 30 minutes, but some reviewers still complained in the comments that the designs did not come out well, so the slower bake may not be the answer. One of the KAF bakers responded by suggesting letting the imprinted cookies sit overnight before baking. That might dry them out a bit.
Any suggestions? Perhaps I should use a whole cup of almond flour? I really want the designs from the springerle molds to show up crisply.
The flavor is good but I will likely add 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg to the 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. ginger, and 1 tsp. cloves. The KAF recipe uses their speculaas spice (no surprise there) but they do give directions online (not in the catalogue!) about what spices to substitute. I note that theirs is mostly cinnamon.
Here is the recipe as I baked it this time:
3 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger1 cup salted butter (original does not specify; older recipes tend to use salted (deleted 1/8 tsp. salt)
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 egg
(I deleted 1/2 cup sliced, blanched almonds, as they interfere with the design)Any suggestions will be cheerfully considered! Thanks!
Ah, yes. springerle. I only tried baking them once, and that was before I had a stand mixer. There is a lengthy period of beating the eggs, so it's not a great idea with a hand mixer. The cookies did not come out that well, and they were very hard, which may be what they are supposed to be. I think people dunk them in milk, coffee, tea. However, I'm not a dunker. I didn't use the baker's ammonia. If I ever try them again, then I will invest in it (and hope that I can air the house before my husband smells it!)
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