Baking Dutch delights

Entrepreneurial British School of Bahrain student Lucas Moes is aiming to help the island go Dutch with his homemade delicacies.

The Moes family, Lucas, 12, dad Herman, 47, and mum Anja, from Hamala, spotted a niche in the market and decided to create Lucas’ Dutch Stroopwafels after realising their favourite traditional snack was lacking in Bahrain.

Herman, owner of Dahlman Middle East, said: “Stroopwafels are a favourite treat for Lucas and I and good quality ones are not available in Bahrain. Every time we return home to The Netherlands, people always ask us to bring some back.

“This got us thinking, how do you offer a fresh treat to friends? Bake them yourself.”

A stroopwafel is a waffle made from two thin layers of baked dough with a caramel-like syrup filling in the middle. They were first made in Gouda in The Netherlands and large versions are sold in the streets as a snack.

Dough is made from a variety of ingredients, then small portions are made to bake each stroopwafel separately, it takes an hour for preparation with dough making, heating up the syrup, setting up the baking iron and approximately one to two minutes per piece to bake.
 
When the time came to name the budding venture, which has been running since September, the choice was obvious said Herman.

“We thought of many names but all seemed too commercial or didn’t sound right. In The Netherlands the best stroopwafel bakers are known by their name, so if you mention to friends you bought them from (whoever) they know if they are good or not. So, we ended up with ‘Lucas’ as the brand as he has a great recipe.”

The youngster, with a little help from mum and dad, bakes three to four times per week, one to two hours per baking run depending on the demand. He followed a special course for baking the stroopwafels in The Netherlands.

Lucas said: “I am proud to be Dutch and share the taste of this special item from my country. I enjoy baking something special that tastes great.

“There is nothing that smells and tastes so good in Bahrain. The recent fair at the British School of Bahrain proved the quality and taste as I only had about a 15-minute break all day as the people were lining up in front of my stand all the time. My parents had to work hard to help out and we ran out of stock before the day was over.”

The biggest order to date has been 250 pieces, which were delivered before Christmas to a Dutch friend (now a happy client also) who wants to give this to his clients in Bahrain.

Although the small business currently sells its fare at Esquires Coffee Houses in Saar and Awali, there are no immediate plans for expansion as the time and cost of producing the tasty treat is relatively high.

Herman said: “All ingredients are flown in with a courier and therefore it becomes expensive. The costs for the syrup and dough is quite high compared to regular baked products as barely half of the ingredients are available in Bahrain. Slow expansion is the plan so Lucas can handle the workflow and keep up with school also.”

Lucas plans to have a shop later on and then, perhaps, deliveries are likely to be made. Mass production is not the main objective except for special requests, fairs and shows. 

He said: “I do not know if I want to do this forever but at least until I am 20 or so. I like live cooking the best and prefer to stand at fairs and not only in my kitchen as that is not so exciting.

“I like the business a lot, and I expect my parents will teach me more on how to run the business and be organised.”

For details, email lucasmoes1@gmail.com