Posted by ayersian
, April 28, 2009 23:07
Stop #24 on my mission to try the 100 foods to eat in Iowa before you die was at the Roadfood-reviewed Jaarsma Bakery in the town of Pella. Over the course of the past several months, I have had the opportunity to sample several different Dutch letters throughout the state of Iowa. And though all have been mouth-wateringly delicious, Jaarsma’s version easily stands out from the rest. This S-shaped pastry expertly guides your mouth through 3 distinct taste/texture sensations: (1) a dense layer of almond paste is (2) enveloped by a soft pastry interior, which is, in turn, (3) shielded by a crispy, crackly outer layer. In my oh-so-humble opinion, the Dutch letter may be the perfect pastry—it is just sweet and light enough, but doesn’t leave you struggling through a lethargic sugar coma afterward. For the prime example of this perfect pastry, Jaarsma is certainly the place to stop (and they mail order too!).
Being the dedicated marzipan fanatic that I am, I couldn’t resist sampling a few more of the bakery’s signature sweets including…
an almond-filled butter cookie,
a heavy-in-the-hand almond tart…
and an almond crispie. And for dessert (!)…
a pair of lemon sour cream poppyseed cakes that were so moist that they put not only Duncan Hines, but grandma to shame. These cakes seemed to melt upon contact with the tongue! Delicious!
