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Anijsmelk
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Anijsmelk is the Dutch night drink of cold hands and quiet kitchens: milk, anise, a little butter, and the sweet medicinal smell every child remembers.
Beverages
Dutch
Weeknight
Comfort Food
2 min
Active Time
6 min cook•8 min total
Yield2 mugs
In my grandmother's second notebook, between pancakes and a pudding that never quite set, there is a line so short it almost disappears: melk, anijs, klontje boter. Milk, anise, knob of butter. That was enough. Some recipes are written for strangers; this one was written for a house that already knew the weather.
But let me tell you a secret. Anijsmelk looks like nothing, just a pale cup held between two hands, and yet it carries half the Dutch nursery with it. The name already tells you the honest truth: anijs is anise, melk is milk. No grand disguise. The seed came to Dutch kitchens as both spice and household remedy, the same sweet liquorice scent that appears on beschuit met muisjes, rusks with aniseed sprinkles, when a child is born. At night, it softened milk into something almost ceremonial.
The pressed anijsblokje, the little anise block, is the practical Dutch answer to a longer infusion: sugar and anise held together until hot milk persuades them apart. The butter is older kitchen wisdom, not luxury. It rounds the edge of the anise, gives the milk a faint golden gloss, and makes the cup feel sustaining after the walk home from ice. Hou het altijd simpel. Heat the milk gently, melt the block completely, whisk in the butter, and stop before the milk boils hard. Scalded milk tells on you immediately.
Anijsmelk belongs to the Dutch household tradition of warm medicinal drinks, where aniseed was valued for digestion, sleep, and the soothing of children long before it became a supermarket convenience. In the twentieth century, pressed anijsblokjes made the drink almost instant: one block dissolved into hot milk gave a consistent cup without steeping and straining whole seed. Its close cousin at the Dutch table is beschuit met muisjes, the birth rusk covered with sugared aniseeds, proof that the same spice marked both the beginning of life and the quiet end of an ordinary winter day.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole milk
Quantity
500ml
pressed anijsblokjes
Quantity
2
one per mug
whole aniseed (optional)
Quantity
2 teaspoons
use only if anijsblokjes are unavailable
sugar or honey (optional)
Quantity
1 to 2 teaspoons
use with whole aniseed, to taste
unsalted butter
Quantity
10g
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 small pinch
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole milk | 500ml |
| pressed anijsblokjesone per mug | 2 |
| whole aniseed (optional)use only if anijsblokjes are unavailable | 2 teaspoons |
| sugar or honey (optional)use with whole aniseed, to taste | 1 to 2 teaspoons |
| unsalted butter | 10g |
| fine sea salt | 1 small pinch |
Equipment Needed
- •Small heavy-bottomed saucepan
- •Small whisk
- •Fine sieve if using whole aniseed
Instructions
- 1
Warm the milk
Pour the milk into a small saucepan and set it over low heat. Warm it slowly until it trembles at the edge and tiny bubbles gather around the pan, but do not let it boil. Milk that has been hurried tastes cooked, and anijsmelk is supposed to be gentle.
- 2
Melt the anise
Add the anijsblokjes and whisk until they dissolve completely. The milk will turn faintly sweeter and smell of liquorice and old cupboards in the best possible way. If you are using whole aniseed instead, crush the seeds lightly, warm them in the milk for five minutes, then strain the milk back into the pan and sweeten it to taste.
Pressed anijsblokjes vary in sweetness. Taste before adding extra sugar; the Dutch kitchen is frugal, and here frugality is good manners. - 3
Add the butter
Whisk in the butter and the tiny pinch of salt until the surface looks glossy and the butter has vanished into the milk. The salt should not announce itself. It only steadies the sweetness and makes the anise taste clearer.
- 4
Serve at once
Pour into two warmed mugs and drink while the surface still holds that pale golden shine. This is not a drink for ceremony. It belongs at the kitchen table, socks drying somewhere nearby, the house going quiet around you.
Chef Tips
- •If you find real anijsblokjes, use them. They give the old nursery-cup flavour without fuss. If not, whole aniseed is the honest route; avoid anise extract, which tastes sharp and thin.
- •Use whole milk. Skim milk makes a grey, watery cup and the butter floats instead of rounding the drink.
- •Do not boil the milk. A hard boil changes the sweetness and leaves a skin, and then the drink begins to feel like punishment, which is not the point of anijsmelk.
Advance Preparation
- •Best made just before drinking; it takes less than ten minutes and the butter gloss is finest fresh.
- •If using whole aniseed, crush the seeds up to one day ahead and keep them covered so their scent does not fade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 265g)
Calories
205 calories
Total Fat
12 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
35 mg
Sodium
180 mg
Total Carbohydrates
16 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
16 g
Protein
8 g
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