What is Tompouce?

Tompce is a type of pastry that is considered basic in Dutch and Belgian cuisine. Usually it consists of layers of inflated pastry with a soft cream between and topping up. It is also described as a rectangular or "brick" reminiscent of Twinkie®, a popular refreshment cake. This pastry is similar to the Dutch version of French pastry, Napoleon. Tompouce can also be written as "tompoes". During this time, an American circus show performed and stopped in the city. One of the main artists was a dwarf named Charles Sherwood Stratton, who used "General Tom Thumb" or "General Tom" as his stage. Baker was so amazed by Tom the lesson that he borrowed his name for his new pastry. Interestingly, the French Napoleonbyl named after the famous General Napoleon Bonaparte, which was known to have a short figure, as well as General Tom Thumb.

the basic structure of TompouCE includes several layers of thin inflated bread on the bottom with a strong, generous amount of light yellow creams in the middle. They are ending with another layer of bread to sand cream. The pastry is finished with the spread of pink topping, sometimes with a final stripe or a white topping hill at the top. On special occasions, when the Dutch national football team competes at international events, pink icing is replaced by orange in honor of the team.

Creating Tompce became easier with the arrival of a pre -made inflated pastry, which is available in many cases freezers with food. Bakers who create their own pastries need a large amount of butter to achieve a layered look common for croissanty. The cake generally consists of milk, eggs and flour, as well as some salt and a lot of sugar. Several teaspoons of vanilla or some fruit extracts such as lemon or strawberMany liquid, which could prevent the thickening of the cream. Pink icing is usually made of butter, milk and confectionery with a little red food color.

Since its invention, the traditional recipe and the ingredients for Tompouc have changed very little, making it iconic and classic Dutch pastries. Some bakeries sell jelly filled Tompoes, but many customers do not even consider these real tompoes. The sweetness of the bread of tompouce makes them perfect to eat with a cup of coffee or tea.