Dark Rye and Honey Cake: Festival Baking from Belgium, the Heart of the Low Countries, written by Regula Ysewijn, features an incredible collection of sweet and savory recipes alongside gorgeous photography, stories, history, and traditions. A few highlights include Luikse Wafel, Pistolets, Oliebollen, Vaution de Verviers, and Banketletter. I will also be sharing her recipe for Brood Krakelingen following the review.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Weldon Owen in exchange for my honest review. All comments and opinions are my own.
Regula Ysewijn
Regula Ysewijn is an award-winning Belgian author and photographer. She was born in Flanders and focuses on the history and evolution of European food and drink culture.
She is also one of two judges on the Flemish version of The Great British Bake Off, along with The Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards and World Cheese Awards.
Regula is the author of multiple books including The British Baking Book, Pride and Pudding, Belgian Café Culture.
Dark Rye and Honey Cake
Regula begins Dark Rye and Honey Cake with an introduction and history behind the development of the book.
She states, “In this book I’m focusing on the heart of the Low Countries- the region of current Belgium- with expeditions into French Flanders, Germany, and the Netherlands, because baking doesn’t know any borders and borders have shifted while culture has remained in place.”
Not only are the pages packed with an amazing assortment of recipes, but also the traditions, festivals, and language behind them.
I absolutely love this attention to detail in every single word from the first printed cookbook in the Dutch language, Een notabel boecxken van cokeryen (published in Brussels around 1510) to notable Flemish and Dutch artwork and how the baked treats have evolved over the centuries.
The recipes are divided based on type: Waffles, Midwinter and Festival Bread, Pancakes, Pretzels, Fritters, Vlaaien, Koekebrood, and Honey Cakes and Other Sweets.
Regula also provides the beautiful photography with illustrations by Bruno Vergauwen. Every recipe is paired with a quarter to full page photo of the finished dish.
Measurements are listed in US Customary and grams. Titles are written in Flemish Dutch or French. Each baked good has a headnote with background information, history, yield, tips, and serving ideas.
Brood Krakelingen
Every single recipe I tried was a hit, but these Brood Krakelingen were an absolute favorite with the kids. The bread-like pretzels are made with a simple yeast-based dough and formed into a fun twisted shape before baking in a hot oven until lightly golden.
Regula states these are the krakelingen “seen in the paintings of Bruegel and other Flemish and Dutch masters of the 16th and 17th century.” The simple dough also makes them perfect for Lent.
She also hung her Brood Krakelingen on a wooden Krakelingen stand. We did not have one, but my daughter emptied our wooden mug stand and used it to hold the krakelingen.
Keep any leftover Brood Krakelingen in an airtight container for up to a couple of days.
If you use active dry yeast, activate in lukewarm water before mixing in with the rest of the ingredients.
Rest the dough until doubled in size before dividing and forming each krakeling. In warm kitchens, this will take around an hour. In cooler kitchens, it may take closer to two.
Other Baking
I also made the Lukken, Worstenbrood, Nonnevotten, and Dikke Speculaas.
The Lukken are brittle, buttery waffles from West Flanders in Belgium. They were originally created in the 16th and 17th centuries and associated with New Years’s alongside sweet or spiced wine. The rich, buttery dough is formed and allowed to rest overnight before forming into individual balls and pressing in a shallow waffle iron until golden.
Worstenbrood (Sausage Bread) is traditionally eaten in Antwerp on the first Monday after Epiphany (Lost Monday). While today, recipes generally use puff pastry, Regula was inspired by historical mentions of an enriched dough to wrap the homemade ground pork (or meat mixture) filling. Leftovers freeze well and can be baked after an overnight thaw in the fridge.
These Nonnevotten are a Vastenavond (Shrove Tuesday) treat from Dutch Limburg. The yeast based dough is formed into individual rings or knots, then fried until golden and covered in cinnamon sugar. They were so good warm.
There are a handful of speculaas recipes and we started with the Dikke Speculaas (thick or tray-baked speculaas). This is such a delicious option to get that wonderful spiced flavor without a lot of effort or time. The cinnamon and clove-spiced dough is formed into one or two sheets then baked until just set with slightly darker edges. They are best cut into wedges while lukewarm and served with milk.
Dark Rye and Honey Cake is a fantastic pick for not only those interested in Belgian baking, but also the history and traditions behind the recipes. Many of the baked goods come together in 1-2 hours, while some others require an overnight rest.
Most of the ingredients are readily available in larger American grocery stores. A few items that may require further searching include pearl sugar, orange blossom water, currants, broken rye groats, gum tragacanth, rosewater, and rice flour. Special tools will be helpful for the waffles and cookies.
Brood Krakelingen Recipe
Excerpt from Dark Rye and Honey Cake
Brood Krakelingen
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (270 grams) bread flour
- 2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) instant dry yeast
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine the flour, oil, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.
- Pour in half of the water and start kneading. When completely absorbed, pour in the rest of the water and knead for 5 minutes. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes.
- Add the salt and knead for 10 minutes until it has come together in a smooth and elastic dough that is neither too dry nor terribly wet.
- Cover the dough and set aside for 1 hour until it has doubled in size.
- Toward the end of the resting time, prepare two or three baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 450˚F.
- Knock the air out of the dough and divide it into 13 equal pieces. Have a small bowl of water handy.
- Take a piece of dough in your hand and stretch, then moisten your hands with a little water and roll the dough into a 24 inch strand that is just under 1/2 inch wide.
- Sprinkle each lined sheet with some flour to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Shape the strand into a pretzel straight onto the sheet by twisting the ends of the strand together once or twice, depending on your preference.
- Moisten your index finger and thumb and then stick the twisted ends onto the middle of the loop. You can correct the shape if needed while the krakeling is on the sheet.
- Bake the krakelingen for 10-12 minutes until they have a golden blush, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Keep in an airtight container.
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