Making Speculaas Spinningwheels with a Handcarved Cookiemold for the Gingerbread Challenge

Hello friends! ‪@CrowingHen‬ challenged us to a Spinningwheel Gingerbread challenge. And I, the pedantic European that I am, took the rules, threw them out of the window and am making Speculaas Spinningwheels. For speculaas is my local variant of a spiced cookie.
For this we shall be carving a bespoke speculaasmold in the shape of Kristine, my vintage Ashford Traditional. Join me on this culinary chaos!
The recipe used: www.laurasbake...
If you want to join in on the chaos, you can join the patreon via: / mijnwolden
You can also find me on Ravelry and Instagram as @MijnWolden
If you enjoy spinning, yarn, knitting, fiber arts or any other traditional craft then this channel is right up your alley. Maybe you could hit that subscribe button?
#spinningwheel #gingerbreadchallenge #gingerbread #speculaas

[@stjaimy2.0]

As a Dutch spinner myself who still gets exited by Sinterklaas (Even though I might be a little to old for it) this video was such a delight! I just discovered your content and I have to admit I probably binge watched every video so far! I can not get enough of your creative endeavors.

[@MijnWolden]

Nobody is too old for st Nicolas! 😁

[@JillianEve]

This is the most amazing cookie mold. You are so talented!!! I wish we could sip tea, spin and eat spinning wheel cookies together. They look delicious! ❤

[@MijnWolden]

If anyone invents a transatlantic transportation device, I'll bake speculaas, do you bring the tea?

[@JillianEve]

@@MijnWolden I'll bring tea and we can swap floof! 😀☕ 🧶

[@MijnWolden]

@JillianEve lovely, that's settled then 😁

[@JillianEve]

@@MijnWolden 🥰

[@kalka1l]

For those on the western side of the Atlantic: Belgian Candi Sugar can be sourced from brewing supply shops as it is used in dubbel and tripel Belgian beers. It’s not just a molasses heavy brown sugar it is an invert sugar pushed to Maillard and caramelizad.

[@MijnWolden]

Wow, you know more about kandijsuiker than I do 😁

[@kalka1l]

@@MijnWolden oh I really don’t! I do brew a bit and your video inspired me to look into sourcing the sugar locally. I am trying to stop myself from inverting my own sugar but I may just cook my own anyway. 😅

[@MijnWolden]

@kalka1l let me know how that goes!

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

@@kalka1l - Fun to find a fellow home brewer on a fibre arts (spinning) KZbin channel! Well, not 100% a ‘brewer’, as I’m more of a mead, fruit wines and cider maker, so technically I’d be a… fermentation enthusiast that leans towards the alcoholic? Invert sugars are great food for our yeasty little friends! And as a Belgian, I love your mentioning dubbel and tripel Belgian beers! (Yum!)

[@silverwitch6863]

The sugar… in Germany we call it Kandiszucker, and it is used for Spekulatius (yes, that’s what we call the German version of these cookies) or sweetens your tea, to just name two common uses. I still have a very old family recipe and molds from old times. Your spinning wheel turned out great! Put dough in the fridge, and only use small portions. It makes it easier to get the cookie out of its mold. Before use, you also need to slightly oil the mold a day before. 😊 Biscoff?! Not working for me! 🤣

[@MijnWolden]

I am happy biscoff is also not working for you 😂 Except for the first one, they released pretty good. It's the same as with pancakes probably, the first is never the best...

[@acolley2891]

I never thought to do this! ❤ i love Evie too.

[@MijnWolden]

Evie's videos taught me practically everything 😁

[@Setyourhandlek]

Super cool! I really like how well your idea worked out. May you enjoy many more spinning wheel speculaas and Saint Nicholas days. ❤🐻

[@MijnWolden]

Thank you ☺️ happy Saint Nicolas day to you too

[@genier7829]

Your cookie mold worked out so much better than I expected. Really impressive!

[@MijnWolden]

Thank you 😁

[@LadyValkyri]

You pronounced "caraway" perfectly. It tastes like black licorice, anise, fennel, etc... and is used in both sweet and savory dishes, mostly in sausages. I don't care much for that black licorice flavor profile, but the mold is fabulous and the cookies looked amazing! Hugs

[@MijnWolden]

Actually, I didn't pronounce Caraway at all. I said "Karwij", because that's the Dutch word for it :D

[@Yarn_addict]

Awesome job on the mold!

[@MijnWolden]

Thank you ☺️

[@cammacrae7959]

That was fun!

[@MijnWolden]

Thank you 😁

[@Suze2233]

Fabulous cookies! I enjoy learning about your culture.🎅🏻

[@MijnWolden]

Thank you ☺️

[@jenniferbrighty5120]

Hi Jente, I hope you and Dries are both OK xx ❣️❣️❣️❣️ Thankyou so much for sharing this video podcast, and Happy St Nicholas Day 🎅🎅🎅 I love your Wood Carving of a Spinning Wheel and the Cookies looked and sounded delicious,...I hope Dries got his coffee to go with his cookie. Love these Shenanigans as well as the fibre ones.🎉🎉🎡🐑☀️🌞 Happy cookie Making and Spinning Fibre Friend 🎉🎡🐑🥰🥰 Take care and stay safe Lots of love and Big Hugs to you both Jen xxxx ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🐕

[@MijnWolden]

Dries didn't get his coffee... But he got hot pudding with it, which is better!

[@alexvanderpol1]

This is such a wonderful idea! Haven't seen the end of the video yet, but had to comment!

[@MijnWolden]

I cannot claim full credit for the idea though, Crowing Hen made the first gingerbread spinningwheel 😁

[@deniseodaniels7356]

what a fun video! i loved the spinning wheel cookie mold. thank u for showing us how to do this.

[@MijnWolden]

Thank you ☺️

[@AndreaAlexander]

Ahhhh those looked AMAZING 😍 And I'm sure they tasted even better!!

[@MijnWolden]

They were tasty yes 😁

[@jenniferfowler6713]

that was wonderful! the cookies looked very good. the fact you ate all of them says they were tasty. I hope you had a good day celebrating St. Nicholas

[@MijnWolden]

They were 😁

[@nannasallynelson3990]

Delightful. Did the next cookie come out of the mold easier once it had been used? Yeah for more

[@MijnWolden]

Yeah, only the first one was a bit stuck ☺️

[@AutumnFictions]

I will now be educating my friends and family every time “Biscoff” cookies are mentioned 😂

[@MijnWolden]

Spread the gospel of speculoos! (Among the people and on your sandwiches but speculaaspaste/biscoffpaste is a thing)

[@michellebruton6287]

Damn Woman !! you are amazing !!! carving your own speculaas cookie mold - wow !! Job well done !! I loooove speculaas cookies but now I live in a little seaside village and have not seen any here, so I think my first thing on my to do list for when I get to Johannesburg for crismus with my family is to stop in at my favourite dutch bakery and buy speculaas and stroopwafel en bitterballen ooo en kroketten ... oh goodness me, now you really got me going - maybe I must just follow your recipe and bake some ... but the mold is crucial to the authenticity of the cookie ... mmmm we have a saying here - 'n boer maak 'n plan - I will make a plan !!!

[@MijnWolden]

Well, you could try Hasseltse speculaas, that's made without molds. It's more of a softer type of speculaas, but also really tasty!

[@elizabethstreeter2145]

Love your mould making and the cookies looked fantastic .I could imagine you making Christmas decorations out of the mould or another one using air drying clay or Fimo and selling them I bet plenty of spinners would want one for there tree. Love it all happy st Nicholas day as wait here in Australia for Christmas Day in the heat

[@MijnWolden]

I do have some fimo... 🤔

[@elizabethstreeter2145]

@@MijnWolden can’t wait to see them

[@linr8260]

Ooooooh that looks delicious. I'm not sure I've ever tasted the full spice version and now I want to try it. (Also, 🐧 the music really does fit the title)

[@MijnWolden]

The Lotus ones are the most famous abroad, and that is indeed only Sugar and cinnamon. But both versions are very tasty!

[@LadyofNonSequitr]

🐧 Those look delicious!

[@MijnWolden]

They were 😁

[@LusiaKnits]

❤❤❤ lovely episode

[@MijnWolden]

Thank you 😁

[@darlenewatkins4999]

Your cookies (hope that is not an insult calling them cookies)..... look AMAZING!!!

[@MijnWolden]

No insult at all 😁

[@leslieambailey]

Hey that’s so cool. I have one of those molds! I have had it in my kitchen for 25 years! My late husband used to do business in Antwerp, so he must’ve gotten it there for me! (I thought it was from when he was working at The Hague because it is a windmill … and I also thought it was a butter mold). Thank you for educating me!

[@MijnWolden]

Could very well be from either Antwerp or The Hague, the low countries share much of their history and culture 😁

[@leslieambailey]

@@MijnWolden ok!

[@barbaramagri4209]

Hmmm buoni Complimenti per lo stampo 👏💪

[@MijnWolden]

Thanks!

[@fleurigfamke]

🐧Jente, you have the most amazing ideas! I love that you've made your own (Speculaas) cookie mold. The cookies came out beautiful and looked delicious. 🐧

[@MijnWolden]

Well, I cannot take claim on the idea, as I only adapted Crowing Hen's challenge 😁

[@anikagroen4592]

Ja speculaas soppen thee😊! Wat zijn ze mooi geworden

[@MijnWolden]

Dankjewel 😁

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

I was taught that to get even better flavour it’s best to let your dough rest for 24 hours in the fridge, so the spices get a chance to bloom and marry. Two years ago, my SO went on a mission to concoct himself the perfect speculaas spice blent and to bake the perfect speculaas cookie. Every weekend he’d bake at least two different batches. I think I still have a tiny bit of PTSD-adjacent symptoms from that winter. But now he’s happy with his version. After seeing this video I just might feel the need to carve him the perfect speculaas mould to go along with it!

[@MijnWolden]

That's some speculaas dedication!

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

@@MijnWolden - After the Speculaas-dedication, he went in the Cheesecake Quest. Currently, it’s a toss-up between the Battle of the Burgers and the Cocktail Conundrum. But the Speculaas-dedication was epic.

[@rosalie4069]

Ahh echt zo leuk! Ik voel me helemaal geïnspireerd om ook zo iets te proberen. Bedankt voor het delen. Groetjes uit NL :)

[@MijnWolden]

Dankje, buurvrouw 😉

[@tattercandy]

they look yummy

[@MijnWolden]

They were 😁

[@partyfiesta1557]

Now you made me want to bake real bad and taught me the difference between the aas and oss. I only had heard the last, poor me! Potferdeke is also so tasty! Hope I wrote this right. Hugs from Provence

[@MijnWolden]

Almost! The pronounciation would be correct if you read potverdekke how you wrote it though 😁

[@partyfiesta1557]

@@MijnWolden thank you! This is a childhood memory of mine now with its correct spelling. Belgian 🇧🇪 cuisine should be honored more often! Bon filage. Bises, Adrien

[@woolaroundtheworld]

I love everything about this video. And want to eat the german version called Spekulatius right now, that are obviously not available in india. And the spinning wheel shape and history lesson. Amazing. Used this for my 15min spinning challenge. Now I am hungry. Have a lovely day. Here we didn't celebrate st Nikolaus day but I got some stuff for my German friends. But today it's lama tsonkhapa day here and I was spinning in the Dalai Lama temple. Greetings

[@MijnWolden]

Does the entirety of Germany celebrate Saint Nicolas day? Somehow I have this vision of it only being the most western part of Germany... Now I'm curious!

[@woolaroundtheworld]

@@MijnWolden i am from east Germany. And we celebrate it for sure. With cleaning our boots and getting it filled with sweets over night

[@WinkyGirls]

Yay, speculaas! Heel interessant als Nederlandse ken ik de houten speculaas vormen, maar heb ik ze nog nooit gebruikt zien worden, dus dank daarvoor! Educational

[@MijnWolden]

You're welcome ☺️

[@countbaldwiniv]

🐧I miss those days with Dag Sinterklaas on Ketnet ❤

[@MijnWolden]

Dag Sinterklaas is still on Ketnet, but it's really weird right now...

[@countbaldwiniv]

@@MijnWolden Jan Decleir & Bart Peeters ples

[@raevynwoods9403]

I always wondered how those speculaas molds worked! I thought they went into the oven with the cookie... I find these subtle differences between Belgian and Dutch culture super interesting, like I would have probably used basterdsuiker instead of kandijsuiker, because that's super easy to find here (I've never used kandijsuiker for anything I think). And 'slap afkooksel' is very funny, we say 'slap aftreksel'. Same essence, different words. Oh and we usually celebrate Sinterklaasavond on the 5th of December, rather than the 6th. Also, can we talk about how interesting it is that Sint Nicolaas, a Catholic saint, became such a big cultural thing in the Netherlands, which is mostly a Protestant country? I've always wondered how that happened. Anyway, enjoy the cookies, and I hope you got something nice in your shoe from the goede Sint. (also penguin)

[@MijnWolden]

I think the veneration of Saint Nicolas in our countries predates the reformation. According to Wikipedia, there was a lot of protest from the protestants (pun only slightly intended), and they say that Sinterklaas hence became a folk tradition in the Netherlands, and a religious tradition in Belgium. Only, I would not be able to point out any differences other than indeed, we celebrate Sinterklaas on the 6th, and you on the evening of the 5th.

[@raevynwoods9403]

@@MijnWolden Oh yeah of course, that makes sense that it's pre-reformation. Sinterklaas is definately not religious any more in the Netherlands :P

[@MijnWolden]

It's not all that religious in Belgium either nowadays 😁

[@jokeklein7879]

Geweldig!!! ik zie een gat in de markt, voor elk merk een eigen koekje? Ik hoop dat je de challenge wint!

[@MijnWolden]

De challenge was niet echt om te winnen, meer een leuk community project 😁

[@afoxgloveshandiwork]

I love biscof, I am glad to know that it’s actually speculaas and I will only refer it by its proper name from now on! 😊

[@MijnWolden]

Welcome to team speculaas 😎

[@TarotLadyLissa]

Find someone with a wood carving machine to produce some for you and sell them as merch! lol I’d buy a Ashford traditional mold!

[@MijnWolden]

I think I might get a cease and desist letter from Ashford then 😅

[@TarotLadyLissa]

@@MijnWolden just use a royalty-free/public domain image of it! lol

[@resourcedragon]

You (pl) ate all the evidence! Some years ago I watched a telemovie in which a woman put poisonous mushrooms in ginger bread men and fed them to her grandchildren. I’ve never quite been able to come at gingerbread men since then. Speculaas are another matter. I grew up in South Australia where we had access to a lot of Northern European foods, including speculaas.

[@MijnWolden]

To her grandchildren?!

[@resourcedragon]

@@MijnWolden: Yes! It was fiction and she wasn't a very nice person.

[@MijnWolden]

@resourcedragon thank god it was fiction 😅

[@Janet-ov7zx]

Happy St. Nicholas Day! Thanks for sharing your cookie tradition! I'm vey impressed with your carving. harpingjanet

[@MijnWolden]

Thank you ☺️