{"id":8465,"date":"2026-10-19T23:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8465"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:50:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:50:44","slug":"tompouce","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/tompouce\/","title":{"rendered":"Tompouce"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thin, light-brown pastry holds a thick layer of pale yellow cream, and the top is decorated with pink icing. The tompouce of the Netherlands and Belgium is a pastry in which a single thick layer of cream is sandwiched between two sheets of pastry. It differs in the number of layers and in volume from the French mille-feuille<\/a>, which stacks three sheets of pastry and two layers of cream. The icing that colours the long, narrow rectangle changes to orange on King’s Day in the Netherlands. It is spelled both tompouce and tompoes.<\/p>\n

A Tiny Folk-Tale Figure and Two Performers<\/h2>\n

The name traces back through the French Tom Pouce to Tom Thumb, a figure from English folk tales. In French, small carriages, umbrellas and other items were also called Tom Pouce, and Onze Taal’s etymology note suggests the name may have been given to the pastry by likening it to a small tart.<\/p>\n

There are also stories connecting it to a person’s name. The American performer Charles Sherwood Stratton toured Europe as \u201cGeneral Tom Thumb\u201d. Following his popularity, Jan Hannema (1839\u20131878), from Friesland, performed as \u201cAdmiral Tom Pouce\u201d. By the mid-19th century, stage names borrowing the tiny folk-tale figure were known to the public.<\/p>\n

The story that an Amsterdam confectioner named it after being inspired by Stratton’s 1858 performance is also told by the retailer HEMA. However, the local history magazine \u201cOns Amsterdam\u201d points out that \u201cTom-Pouce-gebakjes\u201d already appears in an 1854 account from Rotterdam. Even so, it is not known whether that pastry had today’s form of cream sandwiched between two sheets of pastry. The word, used for the folk-tale figure, for stage names and for likening small things, was applied to pastries before the 1858 naming story.<\/p>\n

A guide from the Dutch intangible cultural heritage organisation describes the custom of dressing in orange on King’s Day and eating tompouces of the same colour. The colour of the pastry matches the colour of the streets celebrating the day.<\/p>\n

Baking Two Flat Sheets of Pastry<\/h2>\n

Pastry made by folding butter into dough opens up into layers when baked. But to serve as boards for holding the cream, the sheets also need flat surfaces. In the recipe (ingredient proportions and method) for a large-format version by pastry book author Rutger van den Broek, the pastry is pricked with a fork, and a metal rack is placed on it partway through baking to restrain the rise. In the method from Belgium’s Cook & Bake, a baking tray is placed close above the pastry during baking. Both methods keep the crispness of the layers while making the top and bottom surfaces even.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A serving presented as a \u201cdouble tompouce\u201d (3 December 2024, location unknown). A single portion is plated with a drink. Photo: Andy Li \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. Provided under CC0 by the photographer. No content alterations or cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

A Filling Made with Custard and Cream<\/h2>\n

The filling is a custard-type cream made by heating milk, sugar, eggs, starch and other ingredients. Pastry chef Rob\u00e8rt van Beckhoven makes \u201cSwiss cream\u201d by mixing gelatine and whipped cream into custard, then pipes it alternately with separate fresh cream. Because whipped cream is mixed into custard that has been cooked until thickened, the filling differs in lightness from one made of yellow custard alone.<\/p>\n

Cutting the Top Pastry Before Assembling<\/h2>\n

The pastry and cream are assembled after being thoroughly cooled. Pressing hard from above would push the filling out to the sides. In the method of food culture researcher Christianne Muusers, the iced top pastry is first cut into rectangles and laid in place. Cutting the cream and the bottom pastry along those divisions makes the thick layer less likely to be crushed.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
An example published by the photographer as a vegan tompouce (27 April 2021, location unknown). The formulation of the substitute ingredients cannot be identified from the photo. Photo: Ainali \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Differences in Icing Made with Jam or Raspberries<\/h2>\n

The icing also varies. Van Beckhoven spreads apricot jam on the pastry and layers on fondant tinted pale pink with raspberries. Rutger’s large-format version combines raspberry pur\u00e9e directly with icing sugar. In the method from Belgium’s Cook & Bake, the icing is made with icing sugar, lemon juice and water, and colouring is not essential. Jam may be spread first with fondant layered on top, or fruit juice or water may be added to icing sugar; the ingredients and methods for the icing vary.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A tompouce topped with orange icing and cream (18 April 2018, location unknown). Photo: Amin \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

An Old Recipe with Orange Blossom Water, the Colour of a Holiday and Ways of Eating It<\/h2>\n

Muusers has recreated a tompouce flavoured with orange blossom water from the 1889 edition of the confectionery book \u201cDe banketbakkerij\u201d in her own collection. Besides the vanilla commonly seen today, an older flavour with a floral fragrance has also been passed down.<\/p>\n

HEMA, which states that it has sold tompouces since 1932, layers cream and icing on a large sheet of pastry and then cuts it into many rectangles. A pastry that can be bought one at a time, even in passing while shopping, appears both at everyday coffee times and at celebrations. On King’s Day, an orange top in the colour that symbolises the nation turns the usual tompouce into a holiday treat.<\/p>\n

Whether to remove the top or tip it on its side when eating becomes a topic of discussion because of the difficulty of eating, in a single bite, crumbly pastry together with thick cream that shifts when pressed. Both the confectioners who assemble it and the people who eat it find ways to reconcile these two properties.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Custard<\/strong>: A cream in which milk is thickened or set by heating it with eggs, starch or other ingredients.<\/p>

Swiss cream<\/strong>: Custard mixed with whipped cream. Some tompouce recipes also add gelatine.<\/p>

Fondant<\/strong>: A sugar-based icing that coats the surface of confections smoothly.<\/p>

Mille-feuille<\/strong>: A French pastry in which pastry and cream are stacked in several layers.<\/p>

Rutger van den Broek<\/strong>: A Dutch author of baking books. He publishes his own recipes on Rutger Bakt.<\/p>

Rob\u00e8rt van Beckhoven<\/strong>: A Dutch pastry chef. He explains baking on the television programme \u201cHeel Holland Bakt\u201d.<\/p>

Christianne Muusers<\/strong>: A researcher who investigates and recreates historical dishes and publishes them on Coquinaria.<\/p>

Onze Taal<\/strong>: A language organisation that explains Dutch usage and etymology.<\/p>

Tom Thumb<\/strong>: The name of a tiny figure in English folk tales. It was also used as a performer’s stage name.<\/p>

Jan Hannema<\/strong>: A 19th-century performer from Friesland. He was known by the stage name \u201cAdmiral Tom Pouce\u201d, and portrait prints of him from the 1850s survive.<\/p>

Charles Sherwood Stratton<\/strong>: A 19th-century American performer who worked under the stage name General Tom Thumb.<\/p>

HEMA<\/strong>: A Dutch retailer that has sold tompouces for many years.<\/p>

King’s Day<\/strong>: An occasion in the Netherlands celebrating the King’s birthday. Orange is its symbolic colour.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n

  1. \u2022 Intangible Cultural Heritage Netherlands \u201c10 Years of King’s Day\u201d<\/a> \u2014 orange clothing and tompouces on King’s Day.<\/p><\/li>

  2. \u2022 Onze Taal \u201ctompouce\/tompoes (herkomst)\u201d<\/a> \u2014 definition as two sheets of pastry and the spellings; etymological theories involving Tom Pouce, Tom Thumb and small items; presents the Stratton naming theory without confirming it.\n\u2022 HEMA \u201cDe geschiedenis van de tompouce\u201d<\/a> \u2014 sales since 1932; the method used in its own factory and its use for celebrations and with coffee; product variations in colour and shape.\n\u2022 Rob\u00e8rt van Beckhoven \/ Heel Holland Bakt \u201cTompoucen maken\u201d<\/a> \u2014 a recipe piping Swiss cream and separate fresh cream; apricot jam and raspberry fondant; orange for King’s Day.\n\u2022 Christianne Muusers \/ Coquinaria \u201cOranjegezinde tompouce\u201d<\/a> \u2014 a recreation by the owner of the 1889 edition of the confectionery book, with orange blossom water; an assembly method in which the top is cut first.\n\u2022 Cook & Bake Belgi\u00eb \u201cTompouce\u201d<\/a> \u2014 baking with a tray to restrain the rise; icing of icing sugar and lemon juice; the two-sheet structure.\n\u2022 Rutger Bakt \u201cTompouce taart\u201d<\/a> \u2014 a large-format tin with a rack to restrain the rise; icing of raspberry pur\u00e9e and icing sugar.\n\u2022 Rijksmuseum \u201cTom Pouce\u201d 2026<\/a> \u2014 the stage name of Jan Hannema (1839\u20131878) from Friesland; a Turin print from his 1852\u201353 Italian tour and an 1854 performance in Haarlem indicated by the inscription on its back. Distinguished from evidence directly linking him to the naming of the pastry.\n\u2022 Ons Amsterdam \u201cChampagnetompouce en erwtensoep\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the 1854 mention of Tom-Pouce-gebakjes in Rotterdam, 1890s advertisements and the weakness of the Amsterdam confectioner anecdote. Whether the pastry in the 1854 example was today’s two-sheet pastry is unconfirmed, and direct naming after Hannema’s stage name is not established either.\n\u2022 Onze Taal 2001 \u201cTompoes en Napoleon\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the theory of a Stratton origin and doubts raised in dictionaries; use of the name for small things in general.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The tompouce is a pastry popular in the Netherlands, with thick cream sandwiched between two sheets of pastry. Glossy pink icing covers the top of the long, narrow rectangle. The light-brown pastry, the pale cream and the bright top lie in horizontal layers, and seen from the side, the cream in the middle takes up a large proportion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7512,"menu_order":236,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Tompouce","subtitle":"A rectangle of thick custard under a pink top","topics":"Sandwiched between two sheets of pastry\uff0fCutting the top first to keep it neat\uff0fThe day the pink in shops turns orange","country":"Netherlands","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["cream","butter"],"texture":[],"occasion":["celebration"],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[168],"class_list":["post-8465","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t