[press release via Google Translate]
Ode to the Pink (and Sometimes Orange) Tompouce

The Hague, April 6, 2020 – PostNL has released new stamps in the Typically Dutch series. This time the tompouce is central, the famous pink pastry that is usually orange on King’s Day. This year, the Typically Dutch series focuses on foods and dishes that are characteristic of our country.

Pink glaze
After it was the turn of the smoked sausage, carrots and sprinkles earlier this year, PostNL is paying tribute to the tompouce with these latest stamps. Each tompouce consists of 2 layers of puff pastry, with pastry cream or whipped cream in between. On the top is pink (and sometimes orange) glaze.

Three times Amsterdam
The design of Typically Dutch – tompouce is by graphic designer Edwin van Praet of Total Design from Amsterdam. The photos were taken by Scrambled Media, also from Amsterdam. Coincidence lends a hand, because the first tompouce is also said to have been made around 1845 by a confectioner from Amsterdam, as a variant of the French pastry millefeuille. Tom Pouce is in French what Tom Thumb is in English and Klein Thumb in Dutch.

Crumbly dough
According to tradition, the pastry chef named his pastry after a circus artist named General Tom Thumb who was reportedly only 66 cm tall. Another explanation is that the puff pastry of a tompouce crumbs when you eat it. Just like in the fairy tale of Klein Thumb who sprinkled crumbs in the forest to find the way back home.

Availability
The stamp sheetlet Typically Dutch – tompouce has 6 equal stamps with the value indication Netherlands 1, intended for mail up to and including 20 grams with a destination within the Netherlands. The stamps will be available from April 6, 2020 at the Bruna stores and through the website. The stamps can also be ordered by telephone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number 088 – 868 99 00. The period of validity is indefinite.