The speculaas doll is a typical Sinterklaas treat, but the cookie the pupils of the Albeda College in Rotterdam baked is perhaps a little too much for any one person to eat. The 13.84 metre long giant weighs 867 kg. Dig in!

Baking the doll raised 51,250 euro, and the proceeds will go to the Friends of the Sophia Children’s Hospital foundation (Stichting Vrienden van het Sophia).

The speculaas doll may warrant a mention in the Guinness Book of Records, as the previous tallest doll was only 9 metres. A school on the other side of the country, ROC Almelo, will try to break the new record on 30 November 2009.

Speculaas is a type of dough containing pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg.

(Link: Telegraaf. Photo by Flickr user zoyachubby, some rights reserved.)

The firing of Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen has caused cake problems. As sponsor, the Rabobank had promised every employee in the country ‘yellow jersey’ cake after they would win the Tour, which seemed pretty likely at the time. Since the party is so not going to happen, neither is the big order for the Dutch pastry company in Haarlem overseeing the order. Lucky for them, all those Dutch bakeries were planning on starting their cakes this weekend, so it’s not a complete disaster.

(Link: zibb)