Taart Year in Review

At last, we have the most important section of PubliCie, the reflection and grading of all the taarts or TarTs that have been brought throughout the year. For clarity, a taart is defined as a large layered cake. Whenever a member of PubliCie fails to complete his/her AP’s or does not update the committee in time, he/she get Tarted and is required to bring a TarT.

Chocolade Soesjes:

For those who have never tried the dutch delicacy that is a soesje, it is a pastry dough ball filled completely with whipped cream (kind of similar to a profiterole I’ve been told). Traditionally that is it but sometimes, as with ours, they can be completely covered in a layer of chocolate. Amazingly delicious, if not a bit messy to eat sometimes

Is it a taart? Eh, not taart but definitely a pastry 

Was it tasty? Absolutely!

Overall rating? 7.5/10

Arnhem Girls Cookies “Arnhemse meisjes”:

A sugary thin crispy cookie specifically from Arnhem apparently (who would've thunk). Due to the thin nature of it, it felt like you could eat an unlimited amount if not for the other members in the committee. Special Thanks to Steyn for this one!

Is it a taart?       Nope, only in sugar amounts

Was it tasty?     Hell yea! 

Overall rating?  A solid 5/7

Tompouce:

Another Dutch pastry, the tompouce. Delicious of course and a starter of great discussion regarding the best way to eat it. Hammy has seen many different methods and yet was still able to be surprised! Have you ever seen someone eat one on its side with a fork? Hammy hadn’t, but ingenious nonetheless. 

Is it a taart? No taart but still a pastry 

Was it tasty? Yess

Overall rating? 7/10

Christmas Taart:

In December, approaching Christmas, PubliCie had the opportunity to eat a Christmas taart. The taart was a big marzipans cake representing a Christmas present.

Is it a taart?    It does not get much more taart than this.

Was it tasty?  Some members were not a fan of the massive amounts of marzipan on the cake, although some definitely enjoyed it.

Vibes:    The cake gave a proper nice Christmas atmosphere.

Overall rating?    5/10

Apple Taart:

Fruity, but not quite. Sweet, but not too. It’s back to the basics with this taart: a crumble yet delectable crust, the taste of (grocery) fresh apples, and a fine sprinkling of powdered sugar on top. You can’t go wrong with this one!

Is it a taart? Yes, indeed

Was it tasty? For sure!

Overall rating? 6.5/10

Cookies day:

While Publicie is well known for eating large vasts of Taart, we decided to give a chance to cookies and explore the different possibilities in the baking world. 

Is it a taart? Noooooo!

Was it tasty? Definitely, right amount of sweet and most important with the right company :)  

Overall rating? 5/10  (It may deserve more but this is a Taart review hahaha)

Sweet bread:

Honestly, a mysterious taart that was brought to us once upon a time. Did it turn anyone into a fairytale character of old? Not really, but it tasted like a pleasant, passing dream. It’s something that fairy godmother would have in her kitchen for sure!

Is it a taart? Is it?

Was it tasty? Quite!

Overall rating? 6.5/10

The Nut Cake:

This crunchy but creamy deluxe full round cake was a real treat brought into the meeting. The cream had a slight hazelnut flavour and the cake was light and puffy. Honestly one of the yummiest cakes we've had. 

Is it a taart?     Yes :D

Was it tasty?    Couldn't be better

Overall rating?    10/10 unless you have a nut allergy because you'd literally die

The Ockham Taart:

PubliCie ended the year with a bang. As a member forgot to do his AP’s multiple times, he arranged a fancy taart instead. He got a custom round picture taart ordered at HEMA with the Ockham logo as the picture.

Is it a taart? Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

Was it tasty? Besides the picture, it was a fairly standard HEMA birthday cake. It still tasted very good though. 

Vibes: Very good. Everyone was very excited and wanted to have a piece (more than were even available).

Overall rating? 9/10

Chocolade Soesjes 2.0:

Soesjes were such a success the first time around, they came back again! Of course chocolate covered, but this time with dark chocolate. A definite improvement though.

Is it a taart? Again, eh, not taart but definitely a pastry 

Was it tasty? Even better than the first soesjes

Overall rating? 8/10

BONUS - Cantus taart:

You might be wondering what a cantus taart might be. Though no pictures are of course taken at a cantus, let me paint you a picture: PubliCie is brought to the front to taste a taart made by the praesidium on the spot. But of course there are only limited ingredients, so they make do with what they have. No flour? Beer (non-alcoholic of course) also has a kind of grain in it! No eggs? (Non-alcoholic) Beer can also act as a binding agent! No milk? (Non-alcoholic) Beer is also a liquid! I think you get the idea. Those are the ingredients, then next comes baking, there is no oven but all we really have to do is add some heat, so hot sauce it is. Let that all mix and serve with whipped cream of course! Kind of liquidy to feel like taart but we dare not judge the praesidium for doing the best with the resources at hand.

Is it a taart? …

Was it tasty? …

Overall rating? …/10 (it was a secret)