The Netherlands has a variety of desserts, including everyday sweets like vla and stroopwafels, special occasion treats like poffertjes and appeltaart, and holiday season favorites like banket and oliebollen. Vla is a pudding made with milk, eggs, and sugar, while stroopwafels are wafer biscuits with caramel-like syrup. Poffertjes are small pancakes with butter and powdered sugar, and appeltaart is similar to American apple pie. Banket is a pastry filled with sweetened marzipan, and oliebollen are sweet fried dumplings.
Many different types of desserts can be found in the Netherlands. Some of these are considered everyday sweets, while others are often reserved for consumption only on special occasions. Among the most popular Dutch everyday desserts are the thick, sweet pudding known as vla and the wafer biscuits called stroopwafels. Dutch desserts that can be had on special occasions such as a birthday or a meal with a friend include small sugary pancakes known as poffertjes and the apple pie-like appeltaart. Finally, some Dutch sweets, such as the almond-filled pastry known as banket and the sweet fried dumplings called oliebollen, are mostly eaten during the holiday season.
Some Dutch desserts are eaten on a regular basis and are not associated with any special events or seasons. One such everyday dessert is vla, a pudding made with milk, eggs, and sugar and thickened with cornstarch. Vla can be flavored with vanilla, chocolate or fruit and is usually served cold. The stroopwafel is another everyday Dutch dessert, consisting of two very thin, crunchy wafers that are held together by a caramel-like syrup known as stroop. Both vla and stroopwafels are widely available in Dutch supermarkets.
Other Dutch sweets are usually only indulged in once in a while, such as on one’s birthday or while out to dinner with friends. Within this category, poffertjes are a popular choice. Poffertjes are puffy little pancakes topped with a dollop of butter, a generous dusting of powdered sugar and, in some cases, a squirt of a ladle. Appeltaart is another well-known Dutch surprise. This dessert bears a strong resemblance to American apple pie, except that its crust is usually significantly thicker than that of the latter.
Some Dutch desserts tend to appear only during the holiday season. A popular Dutch Christmas dessert is banket, a floury, buttery pastry that is filled with sweetened marzipan and then baked. Sometimes, the counter is shaped into letters before being fired, a tradition that children especially enjoy. Finally, on New Year’s Eve, many Dutch families prepare the dessert known as oliebollen. This dessert is made from yeasted dough that is spooned into hot cooking oil by the spoonful, deep-fried until golden brown, and dusted in many cases with a generous pile of powdered sugar before serving.
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