Ron, Here is my grandpa's recipe for Dutch Letters. It makes a lot of letters and the ingredients are expensive so I tweak it just a little bit as noted after the recipe. I'm also going to post a few links for some online recipes for them. It helps to actually see what they look like before you make them.
Frank VanVeen's Dutch Letters
(Makes 32 letters)
Pastry dough:
1 lb. unsalted butter
1 lb. lard
8 c. flour
2 1/2 c. water
1 tsp. salt
Filling:
3 lb. almond paste (You can find this in the grocery stores in a 7 oz. tube, brand name Odense. I ordered mine from
amazon.com. I purchased it in a pack of 4 8 oz. cans brand name Solo.)
6 c. sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
3 tsp. almond flavoring
8 whole eggs
Mix the butter, lard, flour and salt until it resembles coarse meal: add the water and mix quickly (don't over mix, you might need to use your hands). On a floured board roll out dough to 12 x 18 inch rectangle. Fold dough into thirds. Roll out and fold twice more. This makes a flaky dough. Chill dough over night. At this point the dough can be frozen. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each quarter to a 10 x 24 inch piece and divide into eight 3 x 10 inch pieces. Make a rope of the filling 1/2 inch thick, by rolling in flour. Place on dough and roll the dough over filling, sealing the ends and edges with water. Brush the top of the letter with egg white and roll in sugar. Shape in "S" on cookie sheet and prick several times with a fork. Bake 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven.
Filling: Mix almond paste, sugar, vanilla and almond flavoring with your hands until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Place in refrigerator overnight before using.
My modifications:
This recipe makes too many and the almond paste is expensive so I divide the dough in half and the filling to 1/3 of the original recipe. I always have filling left over even when I only mix 1/3 of the recipe. I also usually use all butter instead of the mix of butter and lard.
Pastry dough:
1 lb. unsalted butter
4 c. flour
1 1/4 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
Filling:
1 lb. almond paste
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond
2 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk (save the egg white to use to brush tops of letters before baking)
When I mix the pastry, I cut the butter into slices and then don't worry about getting it all mixed in. It will mix up as you roll it out. I roll it out and fold it into thirds 1 time. Then I wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for at least 20 min. Then I roll it out and fold it into thirds 2 more times before wrapping it in plastic wrap and chilling it for at least 2 hours or over night. Because I only mix a 1/2 batch of the pastry dough, I only end up with 16 letters. I divide the dough into 4 parts, roll the parts to approximately 10 x 16 in., and use a pizza cutter to divide the dough into four 10 x 4 in. sections. I usually use the egg white saved from the filling with a tiny bit of water added to seal all the edges and to brush the tops of the letters. I prefer to use large crystal sugar to roll them in or sprinkle on top after forming them into a "S" shape and brushing with egg white. As they cook, they might ooze out the almond filling in places. That just means that you as the cook get a little almond candy treat after removing the letters from the cookie sheet. Let the letters cool slightly before removing them. I usually cut them into 4 pieces to serve. If you have any questions about the process, just drop me a PM. They are a little bit of work but soooo worth it.
https://www.jaarsmabakery.com/history
http://www.state.ia.us/government/d...nal-arts/place_based_foods/assets/dletter.pdf
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dutch-letter-cookies/
I'm headed off to the kitchen to have a little piece of Dutch letter!
I also wanted to ask you bamboo gurus what kind of bamboo this is I have. 
Mike
