Speculaas stuffed with almond

Makes 16 Sqaures Cakes, Bread and Pastries

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Method

The day before, whisk the sugar with the butter until creamy. Add the egg and milk and work it into the butter and sugar mixture, then add the spices and salt.

In a bowl, mix the bicarbonate of soda with the flour, then sift into the cake mixture, stirring until completely incorporated. Knead to a smooth dough, then transfer to an airtight container and set aside to rest overnight.

Meanwhile, make the almond filling. Put the blanched almonds, sugar and rosewater in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Add the first 2 eggs and the lemon zest and pulse until you get a paste. If the mixture does not become a paste, separate the third egg yolk from the white, add the white and pulse. If still needed to get a sticky, pliable paste, you can add some yolk but you probably won’t need to – it just depends how much moisture the almonds have. If you have the yolk left over, reserve it to use for the egg wash. Wrap and store the almond paste in the fridge overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 – don’t use the fan setting. Grease and line a 23cm square tin.

Measure two-thirds of the dough and roll it out to fit the prepared tin, with 4cm up the sides. Top with the almond filling and smooth it out, then roll out the rest of the dough and lay it on top of the filling. Crimp the edges all around as neatly as you can.

Brush the top with the egg wash, gently press the blanched almonds into the top of the cake in a design of your choosing, then brush all over again with the egg wash.

Bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 30–35 minutes until a skewer inserted intothe middle comes out clean. Transfer, still in its tin, to a wire rack to cool.

Cut the speculaas into cubes or rectangular loaves. You can then cut away the sides, leaving the filling visible all around.