pepernoten

happy sinterklaas!

 naughty zwarte piet, is hovering around the mannequin in one of the emporium store in the lowland

 sinterklaas is dutch answer to santa claus that comes early, on 5th december.

 another naughty one....

 toggling between speculaas or pepernoten, you decided to attempt pepernoten... you got a recipe from the supermarket magazine

 gathering all the spices, mixing them up and you are ready to give it a try.  only you use english black treacle syrup instead of the dutch syrup recommended in the recipe. and obviously the black treacle is not golden syrup and as a result you have a batch of exceptionally dark pepernoten that completely overwhelmed by the flavor of black treacle....

 they look quite unpleasant too as you couldn't make up your mind trying to shape them in pepernoten then decided to use the kruidnoten shape... anyway, the process of making is simple but taste wise is a disaster....

you attempt to enjoy it with spiced chai tea, but the cookie is just too strong of black treacle or overpowering by the cardamon powder... you didn't enjoy it at all. but at least you try!
happy sinterklaas, enjoy the gift exchange, eating the chocolate letter or writing poem! as for you, it's going to be just another working day in london.