Dutch Letter with Almond Paste
Everyone around here is familiar with the Dutch Letter. It is a famous Dutch pastry which is sold especially during the Tulip Festival in Pella, Iowa. I remember this Dutch treat from our Sinterklaas Holiday in December.
I've noticed that people call it Dutch Letter with almond paste, but what is the difference between marzipan and almond paste?
Marzipan is usually used to decorate cakes, it's smooth, has more sugar and less almonds than almond paste. For this recipe we use the almond paste.
Make it a few days before using the almond paste. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup almond meal or blend almonds (without skin) in a food blender
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 lemon (zest and juice)
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 355 F.
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If you need to blend the almonds, you can do it now. Don't over-blend it, because it will turn into almond butter.
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Mix the almond meal, the sugar, the zest of one lemon and juice of half of the lemon. If you are going to use the almond paste right away, mix in half of the egg. If not, mix in half of the egg right before you're going to use it and leave the pastry (without the egg) covered in the fridge until you're going to use it.
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Roll out half of the puff pastry you made from the recipe above.
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I made one big letter "S". You can make smaller ones, or logs or other letters. Just cut long rectangles, for example 5x12 inches.
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Shape the almond paste also in the shape of a log and wrap the almond paste log with the puff pastry and shape it into whatever letter.
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Use the other half of the egg to brush on top of the letter or log.
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Bake the pastries for 20 minutes.