Iowa All Over: Dutch treats delight customers in Pella

PELLA - It's back in the kitchen where the dough is baked, the cookies are frosted and perhaps most importantly, where the famous Dutch letters are formed.

There, Dutch letters are made in a huge, one-of-a-kind machine. Literally, it's the only such machine in the world, made specifically for Jaarsma Bakery, said Kristi Balk, the bakery's owner and operator.

Since 1898, Jaarsma Bakery in Pella has been serving cakes, cookies, pastries and other Dutch treats. The bakery was founded by Harmon Jaarsma, an immigrant from Holland who used authentic recipes from his home and Balk's great-grandfather.

Now in its fourth generation of family owners, the business is run by Balk and her husband, Dave, and ships pastries around the world.

Those treats include the signature 'S” shaped cookies. The long, silver machine that makes them stretches across the kitchen.

Dough begins on one end and continues through, being filled with an almond paste before finally making it to the end of the line. There, an employee quickly forms the cookie into the 'S” shape.

'Through my childhood and early adulthood, all the Dutch letters were rolled by hand, and it's very time-consuming,” Balk said. 'When you're touching the dough all the time, you break down the layers in the dough with your hands.

'This machine has helped us to make a better, fluffier, flakier pastry and much quicker.”

Because the dough forming is done by hand, some of the pastries look slightly different when finished, Balk said.

Those Dutch letters are the best-selling pastry in the bakery, Balk said - some 7,000 of the cookies are sold every week. During the Tulip Time festival in May, a peak time for visitors to Pella, that number rises to 47,000 a week. Pella was founded in 1847 by Dutch immigrants. The town is known for its 'touch of Holland,” as it says right on the city's website. Wind mills greet visitors to the town square. The bakery is nearly as old as Pella itself.

Tatiana Muether, who has worked at the bakery for seven years, claims the Dutch letters are her favorite.

'In fact, the first year I was working here, really often I would have a Dutch letter for break,” she said, laughing. 'Some of my co-workers would tease me (saying) the same thing, so I switched it up.

'Andres almond-filled butter cookies is my next close favorite one. The more stuff you try, you can't not like it.”

In a shipping area in the back, treats are boxed to be mailed out. Balk said treats have been shipped as far as Afghanistan.

In addition to the Dutch letters, the front counters display almond-filled butter cookies, strawberry strudel, creme horns and cinnamon nut crispies. Also for sale are coffee cakes and bread.

Women working behind the counter dress in traditional Dutch attire, including a white lace cap. Pastries are placed in a crisp white and blue striped paper bag.

Bigger orders come wrapped in a white box with a blue ribbon.

With Valentine's Day later this Saturday, visitors also can get love-letter cookies - heart shaped pastries.

'These are recipes that we've used for years, and we want to make sure that they're the quality they've always been, or better,” Balk said.

MORE ON PELLA

Pella, in Marion County, was founded in 1847 by Dutch immigrants. The immigrants were fleeing famine and religious persecution, according to the town's history on its website.

The immigrants decided to name their new town Pella, or City of Refuge, in Iowa.

If you go

What: Jaarsma Bakery

Where: 727 Franklin St., Pella

Hours: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday

For more information: (641) 628-2940, www.jaarsmabakery.com.