On this day we visited the Bakery Museum “De oude bakkerij”. We took a guided tour and learned how to paint with cocoa.
The Bakery Museum is a compact space filled with a wide variety of historic bakery items. The exhibits demonstrate how bakers worked in earlier times and offer insight into traditional techniques and tools. Our guide shared the history of baking in the Netherlands, which made the visit both informative and engaging. We also received a demonstration of how to make Speculaas figurines. Speculaas is a spiced cookie similar to gingerbread—fragrant and crisp, and in my opinion even better. In some places, these treats are known as Windmill Cookies.
I found the tour captivating; every corner revealed another interesting object or story. The museum’s collection includes antique utensils, molds, and baking equipment that illustrate daily life in historic bakeries.
The displays highlight both the practical tools bakers relied on and the artistry involved in traditional baking. From measuring devices to decorative molds, each item helps tell the story of how bread and pastries were made.
Large tools like oversized whisks and specialized mixers demonstrate the scale of work in a working bakery, while carved molds show the decorative care bakers put into their creations.
After the guided portion, we watched a short demonstration on painting with cocoa applied to tragacanth, a traditional medium used for edible decorations. Then it was our turn to try. The process was more approachable than I expected and great fun to execute. I kept my design simple and consistent with my previous chocolate piece, choosing a cupcake motif.
Overall, the visit combined history, hands-on learning, and creative fun. The museum is a cozy, well-curated space for anyone interested in baking traditions, and the cocoa-painting activity added a memorable, interactive element to the experience.