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| Alternative names | Tompouce |
|---|---|
| Type | Pastry |
| Place of origin | Netherlands,Belgium |
| Main ingredients | Puff pastry,icing,pastry cream |
Atompoes ortompouce is apastry in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is the local variety of themille-feuille or Napoleon, introduced by an Amsterdam pastry baker and named after Admiraal Tom Pouce, the stage name of the Frisiandwarf Jan Hannema.[1] The name "Tom Pouce" is French for "Tom Thumb".
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In the Netherlands, the tompoes is iconic, and the market allows little variation in form, size, and colour. It must be rectangular, with two layers ofpuff pastry, similar to thecream slice in the United Kingdom. Theicing is smooth and pink, or occasionally white. For many years, however, the top layer has been orange onKoningsdag (King's Day), and a few days before. It may also be orange-coloured when the national football team plays in large international tournaments; this dates from about 1990. The filling is invariably sweet, yellowpastry cream. Tompouces are sometimes topped withwhipped cream. Variations with different fillings or withjam are comparatively rare and are not called tompoes.
Several variations exist in Belgium. White glazing on top is the norm in Belgium, sometimes with a chocolate pattern similar tomille-feuille. Theboekske (lit. 'booklet') may have a sugar finish and may be square. Belgians also use the spellingtompouce or call themglacé (referring to the glazing).
The cakes are usually served with tea, beer, or coffee, and in formal settings are eaten withpastry forks. But the hard biscuit-like layers, which squash the pastry cream when trying to cut a piece off, make this difficult and messy, inspiring the humorous article "Hoe eet je een tompoes?" ('How do you eat a tompouce?').[2]
Media related toTompouce at Wikimedia Commons
