Whilst on my travels in Belgium I made a remarkable gastronomic discovery. Please leave aside the fact that I only needed to travel to the local hypermarket, not half way round the world, while I present to you, in the spirit of Cortes bringing Chocolate to Europe, Pâte de Speculoos.
Any visitor to Northern France or Belgium has probably sampled Speculoos - thin biscuits with a delicious cinnamon and caramelised sugar flavour, often served with Coffee - under the awning of the many Cafés they surely visited. But you needn't go travelling to taste these flavoursome confections: they're sold in the UK and Europe under the Lotus brand, or in the US by Biscoff.
Now imagine those very same biscuits, crushed and blended into a rich paste and you have Pâte de Speculoos - also made by Lotus; the flavour is no longer locked in a biscuit chained to a coffee cup - only let your watering taste buds guide your imagination as you concoct and confect.
Guided by my taste buds, I tried spreading the paste on a Tortilla wrap. When eaten straight after crisping the wrap under a hot grill, the result was delicious. The wrap gives a crisp, firm bite from which the warm cinnamon flavour oozes.
Such a creation surely deserves a name; I've settled on Wrapuloos.
How to make them
- Lay out a Tortilla wrap, and spread Pâte de Speculoos liberally over the centre. Don't spread right up to the edges - leave a border of about 2 inches.
- Fold over two opposite sides of the wrap to make a long rectangle with rounded ends. Now roll up the wrap like a Swiss Roll, starting with one of the rounded ends. Once rolled, stick the other end down with a little more paste.
- Spread a little light brown sugar on the flat side of the roll.
- Place under a hot grill under the sugar begins to caramelise.
- Eat immediately.
So next time you visit the Belgium or France, buy yourself a jar of Pâte de Speculoos. And bring me one back too: they don't sell it at my supermarket yet.
[Update]
From the web, a recipe for Muffins made with Speculoos paste, in French though; here's an almost intelligible English translation by google.
[Update: 12/11/2008]
I've now found an online retailer that will ship all over the world. Order your Pâte de Speculoos from Waffle Cafe today! As of now, you'll pay around £3 per jar, with shipping in the UK about £4 per order.
