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Best Gevulde koek in Chicago
“Buttery shortcrust encasing rich almond paste, topped with whole almonds. Artisan versions pack more almonds than mass-market.”
What the real thing tastes like
Gevulde koek ("filled cake") is a Dutch pastry, consisting of a rich almond paste filling encased in buttery shortcrust pastry. Typically around 10 cm in diameter, it is often decorated with 1–5 whole or halved almonds atop. Artisan bakers tend to use more almonds than mass-market versions. The almond paste found in artisanal or in-store bakery products use a blend of ground almonds, sugar, egg yolk, and lemon zest. In contrast, mass-produced supermarket packages frequently use cheaper persipan, a pastry paste that may include vegetable fats, sugar, apricot kernels, or legume pastes instead of almonds.
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Gevulde koek is a Dutch pastry that asks you to bite through buttery shortcrust into a center of almond paste—about the size of your palm, studded with whole or halved almonds on top. The real divide isn't between good and bad versions; it's between artisan bakers who load them with ground almonds, sugar, egg yolk, and lemon zest, and supermarket factories that cut corners with persipan made from apricot kernels and cheaper fillers. That almond paste filling is the whole point—rich, dense, slightly floral from the zest.
Order it here when it has
- rich almond paste filling
- buttery shortcrust
- artisan versions use whole almonds
- lemon zest brightness
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