Dutch Butter Candy Aka Zeeuwse Boterbabbelaars Recipes

DUTCH BUTTER CANDY A.K.A. ZEEUWSE BOTERBABBELAARS

Steps:

• Butter a large smooth surface to work your mixture on later.(I use a stainless steel tray)
• Bring all mixed ingrediends to the boil, then stir over a low heat and boil down for about 5 minutes until a small drop of the mixture hardens immediately on contact when dropped into cold water.
• Pour your mixture onto your buttered surface and using a buttered knife, scoop the outer flowing edges back towards the middle. Your mixture will resemble mercury as it slips and springs away and in the beginning you'll have to be fairly fast to keep up with it, but keep piling it towards the centre and you will be exposing it to more air as you go, cooling it and as it cools it gets easier to handle.
• Beware! in the beginning it's super hot (like most sweet/candy mixtures) so use that knife and save your fingers for later when it's cool. This scraping/scooping up takes several minutes and you will see the mixture cooling, getting thicker and slower.
• Immediately that the mixture begins to harden use your buttered fingers to draw it out into a cord of 1.5 cm thickness (about 1/2 inch) and use a pair of scissors to cut it into little "cushions". Good luck on neatness here -- it's hardening fast at this point. I decided that small bites are fine since it's a very chewy toffee.

BOTERKOEK (DUTCH BUTTER CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 8 inch round cake pans, or 9 inch pie plates.
• In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, reserving just enough to brush over the tops, about 1 tablespoon. Stir in the almond extract. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the batter by hand using a sturdy spoon. The dough will be stiff.
• Press evenly into the two prepared pans. Press almond halves into the top where each slice would be. Brush the tops with a thin layer of the reserved egg.
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Cut into wedges to serve.