Speculaas is a traditional Dutch spice that’s similar to the North American pumpkin pie spice. Gevulde speculaas is a speculaas cookie filled with almond paste. I used my homemade almond paste for this recipe but you can also use store bought almond paste if that’s available in your area.
To make round gevulde speculaas cookies, cut rounds out of the dough after you've flattened it. Place the first layer of rounds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, making sure to leave some space in-between the cookies. Place a tablespoon of the almond paste (amandelspijs) in the center of each cookie.
A gevulde koek is an almond cookie made of dough and butter with a sweet filling. Almond paste is the most common filler. An almond cookie with a diameter of about 10 cm, a half almond on top. The top of the cake is shiny brown, an effect that is achieved through to cover the dough with beaten egg. It is a typical Dutch bakery item.
What makes those cookies so addictive is the mix of warm spice and brown sugar in the dough. The same mix of warm spices flavors this Speculaas Cake with almond paste filling. In Dutch it’s called Gevulde Speculaas (literally, filled speculaas).