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Papua New GuineaFlavors · 's-Hertogenbosch
Large choux pastry ball filled with whipped cream and covered in dark chocolate, the sweet of 's-Hertogenbosch. A local pastry shop advertised chocolate balls as early as 1903 and began filling them with whipped cream in 1924.
Traditional sweet from 's-Hertogenbosch, Brabante do Norte
Also known as: sjeklade bol, sjekladebol, chocoladebol, Bossche bollen
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Bossche bol — 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands
The Bossche bol is a large choux pastry ball, filled with whipped cream and dipped in melted dark chocolate on top. It is larger than the moorkop, a similar sweet sold throughout the Netherlands, and much harder to eat without getting messy.
The history was researched by Erfgoed 's-Hertogenbosch, the municipality’s heritage agency. According to that research, reported by regional broadcaster Omroep Brabant, the first mention of the name chocolade bol found by the researchers is a 1903 advertisement from the De Klok pastry shop, owned by J. Lambermont. In 1924, the pastry shop of Josephus Johannes Lambermont on Visstraat advertised the whipped cream version. The research does not consider authorship definitively proven. A family tradition attributes the change to another pastry chef, Henri van der Zijde, but there are no advertisements to confirm that.
The name Bossche bol only appears documented in 1933, in an advertisement by a baker from Helmond, and was later adopted by bakers in other parts of the country. In the city itself, many people still simply say sjeklade bol, “chocolate ball” in the local dialect. The Jan de Groot pastry shop, near the station, made the name known nationwide with its advertising.
In 2024 the city celebrated one hundred years of the whipped cream version. For residents, it stands alongside the cathedral, Jheronimus Bosch and the carnival as symbols of 's-Hertogenbosch.
The bol is sold in several pastry shops around the city, in regular size and in smaller versions. Because of the whipped cream, it is made the same day and should be eaten fresh.
's-Hertogenbosch , Brabante do Norte
City sweet, with the whipped cream version advertised in 1924.
Choux pastry (water, butter, flour and eggs), whipped cream and melted dark chocolate.
With fork and knife or with your hands, carefully because of the whipped cream.
All year round, as a coffee treat or dessert; in 2024 the city celebrated one hundred years of the whipped cream version.
Your questions
The sweet of 's-Hertogenbosch: a large choux pastry filled with whipped cream and topped with chocolate.
The Bossche bol is much larger and covered in chocolate. The moorkop is smaller and usually has a chocolate fondant topping.
Authorship is not definitively proven. Municipal research found the name chocolade bol in a 1903 advertisement and the whipped cream version in advertisements by Lambermont on Visstraat in 1924.
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