Translation from Dutch - what is amandelspijs?

Question

I'm trying to make a dutch speciality for my hubby which is like a really rich and soft shortbread. One of the ingredients is amandelspijs. Amandel is 'almond' but spijs (pronounced 'spice') doesn't translate in babelfish. Hubby knows what it is but doesn't know what it's called in English!

It's 250g in a recipe with 1kg each butter, flour and sugar, so seems a bit too much for almond essence. Ground almonds?

If anyone knows for sure, that would be great!

Thanks

Answer 1

Mmmmmmmmm. Amandelspijs. Delicious. Your husband is so lucky.

Essentially, it's a mixture of ground almonds, sugar and an egg with the sugar and almonds in roughly equal proportions (a recipe I found for instance has 125 gr of each plus one egg).

I know that in Ireland and in the UK you can buy Almond rounds and/or Canoe biscuits. It would be the stuff that those are filled with.

It's very traditional in The Netherlands to eat this at this time of year, around the time of the 5th of December, St. Nicholas' day and it's used to fill "speculaas" , a type of spiced biscuit (perhaps what you are baking?) or "banketstaaf" which is buttery flaky pastry.

So there you go. Probably more than you were looking for but I'm a real fan of this stuff. Good luck with the baking.

Answer 2

It's like a kind of marzipan mixed from almonds, eggs, sugar and lemon. We have it in SAfrica too, amandelspys! Your translation is not bad, "almond spice". If you can't make it yourself send me an email and I will send you the recipe. Otherwise you might be able to use marzipan.

Answer 3

It's a mixture of almonds, sugar, egg and lemon. There's a recipe (in Dutch, sorry) at http://www.sinterklaasrecepten.com/amandelspijs.php

Answer 4

Spijs is mixed spices that are used in cakes. The nearest equivalent we have in Ireland is Allspice.

I've had amandelspijs, it's lovely! You're so sweet to make it for your husband ....

Answer 5

hey there its almond paste

Answer 6

'almond paste'