Couque de Dinant

Due to this property, couques can be displayed as decoration, used as Christmas tree ornaments, or used to commemorate special occasions.

Due to their extreme hardness and fairly large size, couques de Dinant are not intended to be bitten into directly.

[3] While Dinant bakeries see large sales over the summer season due to tourists, consumption of couques is highest near Saint Nicholas Day in December.

[1] A popular though unlikely legend holds that the couques arose from the sacking of Dinant in 1466 by Charles the Bold in the Liège Wars.

As the dough was so firm, they had the idea of printing it in the negative in dinanderie (local ornate brasswork), and thereby began the tradition of giving them patterns.

Couques de Dinant at a Dinant bakery
Couques de Dinant are fairly large. Here a smallish one is shown with a 1 euro coin for scale. The design is a view of Dinant.