The best couques and sweet Belgian specialties to taste in Brussels

Updated on May 31, 2024 by Pierre

You are a foreigner or a resident of Brussels who wants to improve your daily bread and include other foods. But you want to know, among the multitude of products of bakery that exist, which ones you can choose from and add to your culinary experience!

For this, you are looking for a list of the best couques and sweet Belgian specialties to taste in Brussels. So, you will discover in this article: 

• 🥐 What sweet specialties do Belgians eat for breakfast?
• 🛒 Where to buy the best in Brussels?

Discover Cramique, Craquelin, Couque au beurre, Cougnou: Delicious and fresh products for healthy eating

We have compiled this list to allow you to get to know these completely different cakes and to be able to choose without difficulty.

1. Cougnou: Ideal for preparing a good breakfast

Cougnou is a brioche bread with a soft texture and pleasant crumb. The particular shape of Cougnu is reminiscent of a loaf in the shape of a swaddled baby. Its recipe comes from Belgium and northern France.

The Cougnou appears enough in almost all bakeries and pastry shops as the end of the year celebrations approach. It is made with several variations of natural ingredients such as sugar, raisins or chocolate chips.

Its traditional advantage is within everyone's reach, it is easy and quick to make at home. The Cougnou is the ideal brioche to prepare for breakfasts or gourmet snacks around Christmas and Saint-Nicolas.

Just like speculoos or almond paste, it is festive gastronomy that will always please your loved ones or your family

I tell you in this article 🥐Where to buy the best cougnous in Brussels

2. Cramique: Enjoy a better coffee break than you deserve

Also called Kramek, the Ceramic is a tasty bread with a nice soft raisin-based crumb and a nice golden exterior. This dish originates from Belgium and northern France. It is often eaten for breakfast and especially served with foie gras during the Christmas meal.

Composed of a few basic ingredients such as flour, sugar, salt, milk, butter and eggs, the cramique is a delicious brioche. Its preparation is simple without any complexity. Making an unforgettable pleasure with your family is the good experience of ceramics.

3. Cracker: Ensures a good supply of proteins to the body

Le cracker is a small rounded bread, crunchy to the bite and melting in the mouth. It is a specialty whose cooking requires a soaking phase in boiling water before cooking in the oven.

And that's what gives the cracker a concave shape and the result of natural craftsmanship that continues through time. It is made from simple ingredients selected with great care: wheat flour, whole eggs, skimmed milk, malt extract and baking powders.

Thanks to these constituents, guarantee the protein nutrient needs of your body by regularly consuming the cracker.

4. Butter layer: A contagious pleasure

The butter shells are a delicious Belgian specialty. Don't confuse them, they look like croissants, but their dough is totally different. It seems that the recipe was invented on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition of 1935 by bakers from Brussels. 

After this exhibition, it was named "exhibition" which became commonly known as "coques au butter". You will find all kinds. The best ones are not bought in supermarkets but in the best bakeries in Brussels. The best Couque au Beurre we have eaten is found at Saint-Aulaye to Brussels

For the annectode, originally, the shell had another name. “Couque is a loan from the Dutch #koek which means “cake; gingerbread "1

You will sometimes find it with raisins, sometimes with chocolate, but know that the original is just with butter.

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Check out our article on 🍞 The best bakeries in Brussels

5. Bodding

The Brussels Bodding: An Anti-Waste Delight Bodding, this traditional Brussels cake, is a real hidden treasure. While the rest of the world transforms their dried sandwiches into simple toasts, the people of Brussels transmute them into an irresistible sweetness. Here is the history of this comforting dessert, its traditional recipe and some gourmet variations to savor. Origin of Bodding The word “bodding” is a fusion of the Flemish “brood” (bread) and the English “pudding”. This specialty dates back to the Middle Ages and is also popular in other Anglo-Saxon countries such as Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. In Mexico, a similar dish called “capirotada” is eaten during Lent.

The basic recipe is simple: stale bread, eggs and milk. A comforting treat to enjoy on cooler days.

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In conclusion

In short, you have just discovered the best couques and sweet Belgian specialties to taste in Brussels. These delights will allow you to live an exceptional gastronomic experience on a daily basis or during your stay in the Belgian capital. However, there are other specialties that have not been mentioned here, but feel free to explore further to satisfy your taste buds! Enjoy your meal!🥐🍰 Don't hesitate to ask me if you need any other information! 😊

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