Koffietijd — the coffee treat
Amsterdam bolus, the cinnamon snail
FestiveDocumented🍯 🌶️moyen2 h (including rising)
A brioche rolled into a spiral, brushed with brown sugar and cinnamon that caramelizes during baking into a sticky, glossy glaze. The name comes from the Portuguese boló, a memory of the Jews who came from Portugal to settle in Amsterdam.
Why this dish? The bolus is the pastry of the Sephardic Jewish families of Amsterdam, Etty's city. Rolled into a snail, glazed with brown sugar and cinnamon, it is the festive sweet of a community to which she chose to remain faithful to the end.
This one we don't make every day — it's a festive treat. I roll the dough into a spiral, lay it in the brown sugar and cinnamon, and in the oven it all melts into a caramel that sticks to your fingers. It's a recipe that comes from far away, from Portugal, through our grandparents, and eating it is remembering where we come from. Eat it while it's still warm, when the sugar glistens: it's a whole little happiness, and those happinesses I gather like flowers.
Ingredients
- •Wheat flour — a pound (structure)
- •Baker's yeast — a little (leavening)
- •Warm milk — as needed (hydration)
- •Butter — a good amount (richness)
- •Brown sugar (basterdsuiker) — generously (glaze)
- •Cinnamon — as desired (signature spice)
- •Egg — one (glaze)
How it was made : The bolus is documented as a Portuguese Jewish specialty of Amsterdam, sold in bakeries of the Jewish quarter. Originally, the glaze was made with syrup or melted brown sugar; each family kept its own hand for the spiral and the dose of cinnamon.