Daring Bakers - January 2013!

The year started with amazing smells and interesting tastes!
I and my fellow Daring Bakers had to bake a traditional Dutch dessert for this month's challenge.

Our host was Francijn from Koken in de Brouwerij, who chose Gevulde Speculaas.

We had to mix our own speculaas spice mix and use it in the recipe. I personally chose cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, anise. It is so fragrant!

I made this dessert just in time for my little girl's Name day celebration. Of course it was not the only dessert, but I cut it in bites and placed it in a nice serving platter on the coffee table and people started nibbling on it. I was skeptical at first, due to the intense flavors, but most of my guests like it! Well, you can't satisfy everyone...
I loved it as well! It is not a dessert you can eat a lot in one serving, but I found myself visiting the kitchen counter where the platter was and grabbing a bite every couple of hours!!!!!

I pressed the dough with my fingers, brushed it with some eggwash and then pressed the almond paste.

I finished with the top layer of dough and decorated with almonds.

Can you see the layers?

Little bites!

Thank you Francijn for a very interesting challenge!