In all honesty, this recipe does not need a separate page, because the two components (pastry dough and almond paste) already have their own pages on Coquinaria. All that needs to be done is to combine them. But since I made a banketletter for Sinterklaas this year, I decided to take pictures and put the recipe online. The quote in the subtitle is from a Dutch satirical sketch from the comic duo Koot & Bie from the 1980s, in which a man is being interviewed who takes part in the (non-existing) World championship Pentla-pooping (only audio – in Dutch).
Sweet pastry, for about 800 gram (1⅔ pound); preparation in advance 15 minutes; preparation 30 minutes.
500 gr (1 pound) shortcrust or puff pastry
250 gr (½ pound) almond paste
1 egg, stirred
Decoration
apricot jelly
candied cherries
succade or candied angelica
Roll out the dough into a thin, oblong sheet. Mould the almond paste into a long cylinder with a diameter of about 2.5 centimetre/1 inch.
Coat the pastry with some stirred egg and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 240 °C/465 °F.
Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and coat it once more with stirred egg. When using almonds for decoration, put them on the pastry before baking. Bake the pastry for about 20 minutes (depending on the thickness of the pastry and the oven). Place a bowl with water on the oven floor for an extra crispy crust.
Heat the apricot jelly and strain it. Place the baked banketletter on a cake rack and coat the crust with the warm apricot jelly. Decorate with candied cherries, succade and/or candied angelica and leave to cool.
The banketletter is at its best when still a little warm from the oven. But it can also be reheated in the oven. Do not use the microwave because the pastry will lose its crispiness. The Dutch eat banketletter with a cup of coffiee or tea.
Recipe for Dutch puff pastry with almond paste stuffing
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