Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Let them eat cake in Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a Big cake town and Patisserie Holtkamp is the place.

1st I am happy to report, when you turn up at dreary old Gare du Nord at 6:30 AM to catch your Thalys train to Ams, you will now be greeted by a new Choux d'Enfer with lovely snacks for the train!

I got us 3 mini quiches in a sweet polka-dot box.


3 hours later CAKE jumps out at you from every other Amsterdam window.

Waffles mit schlag too

COOKIES! Amsterdam is a BIG cookie town. And the cookies come big size only.

This is our hardy breakfast at the B and B.

By chance, wandering up Vijzelgracht 15 (where do they come up with these names?) we stopped dead in our tracks at Patisserie Holtkamp.

Lovely interiors and exteriors.

Even lovelier cakes. Naturally I asked how long they had been there.

 60 YEARS!!  they piped up with great pride.

I loved these rick-rack shaped cookies.

And chocolates that...

Match the floor tiles! 
Paris does not have that.

Later same day, after I returned from Zaanse Schans, I popped into a little garden café at a church just to chill and catch my breath before the train home.

They were baking Amsterdam's famous Apple cake on the spot.
Ah the smell of it!

A moment of apple cake meditation...
A lovely golden Dutch apple cake-colored doggie .
I have maybe 2 more Amsterdam posts if you want them (on the Van Loon Huis and Van Gogh).
Let me know PBers.
Dank u wel Amsterdam! :)

37 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:45 AM

    Yes, more please! Its very nice to see your food choices in Amsterdam. Very fun! Made my mouth water. Cheers! Fan from Rural Oregon

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like you were in heaven.Loved the posts from Amsterdam ( so please give us more ) lovely photos in your last post of the different coloured timber houses were charming . So nice to see other countries delicacies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4:03 AM

    Yes Please, more on Amsterdam. It's somewhere I would love to visit.
    Louise

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, more pls. 😍

    ReplyDelete
  5. Of course!
    I think no matter where you are..we like it:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you so much for the Amsterdam memories...I miss amsterdam and need to go back for a visit soon. The pastry..oh my and the little cafe in the Church garden so very sweet. Amsterdam is a wonderful walking city..Thank you and yes more please...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous8:20 AM

    Yes, please more posts on Amsterdam. A fan from Argentina.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Another fan from Argentina begs you to, please, keep posting on Amsterdam. All you write is delightful.

    ReplyDelete
  9. of course ! give us more posts on Amsterdam, please.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We love Amsterdam! I will be sure to check out your recommendations next time. We really like the apple cake at the Winkel Cafe on Noordermarkt at Westerstraat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We tried really hard to get to Winkel but impossible to do everything in 2 days ;(

      Delete
  11. More please! Of course we want more. Amsterdam Breakfasts? Works for me.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great posts on Amsterdam. It is nice to be a part of your little excursion. Would love to hear more.

    ReplyDelete
  13. More Amsterdam, please! Waiting for Van Gogh!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous10:37 AM

    Enjoying your wonderful AMS travelogue. Luscious! Yes, more please.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm loving your Amsterdam posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PLEASE come to Amsterdam E.
      AND BRING BUSTER!
      He would be a big hit I just know it.

      Delete
  16. I don't often comment--I'm too busy «eating» your photos. I'm amazed--you seem to see what I would want to see--thank you so much for sharing all of the places I can only get to vicariously!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yes, must have both of them...please post more!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous11:34 AM

    Please post Van Gogh. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous12:01 PM

    Oui, more Amsterdam svp. And perhaps a recipe for that yummie apple cake? Merci

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dank U wel Google.

      http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/22405/easy-dutch-apple-cake.aspx

      Delete
  20. Yessss. Pls do more amsterdam posts! Am spending august in paris and then off to vienna, amsterdam and berlin! Love your "travel" posts

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous12:16 PM

    Enjoying all your posts, including Amsterdam. Which B&B did you stay at in Amsterdam and do you recommend it?

    Thanks and keep them coming. Love your photo's.

    ReplyDelete
  22. OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! Such perfection. Another wonderful city I must see one day. Thanks for sharing Carol.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Yes! More Amsterdam!
    But anything by Carol Gillott makes me happy and puts me into "another world."
    Just don't stop!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Absolutely...thank you, Carol!

    Barbie 💐

    ReplyDelete
  25. oh yes, more please.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous6:52 PM

    More please - reminds me of my only - and very quick - trip to the Netherlands a few years ago!

    Chris A

    ReplyDelete
  27. Carol, it will be grand to see as many more Amsterdam posts as you wish to send us. Photographs and paintings, and overall impressions of this wonderful place.

    I love the looks of those zigzaggy cookies. What did they taste like?

    Did you get to see lots of tulips at the flower markets? I remember the Van Gogh museum as a joy (and also remember having seen lots of those creations when they made a stop at the Brooklyn Museum before the Amsterdam museum was finished. Lovely memories, both there and here.)

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  28. Of course...more of your adventures in Amsterdam!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oh, YES...love the snippets of other places in the world. The packaging, so cute..interesting how they have meat & cheese for breakfast...the transom windows at the delicious Holtkamp and the grate built into the wall??? I find it all so interesting and beautiful....DANKE you!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Dar Carol, Lovely post, I adore the Netherlands, my partner is from there and Ámsterdam is really a great city to visit, eat, shop, and relax.
    Whatever you write is interesting to me, if you write about Paris, New York, Ámsterdam, Giverny or Poitou I'd love to read it on a daily basis. Big merci to you, Carol.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Beautiful watercolor to open, then gorgeous pastries, reflections in windows, tiled floors, more pastries, great job, Carol!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Yes Carol, puleeeeeezzzz give us more goodies, topped off with Vincent's wonderful art.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I have the most divine memory of a Dutch butter cake -- oh, I'll never forget it. Can't find it here and don't know how to ask for the recipe but it was amazing! A memory of the heart!

    Love the watercolor here!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Oh yes more please ... As a very young woman decades ago, I did not know Amsterdam was cake heaven ... Must go back ... Love love love chocolates matching floor tiles .... So funny!

    ReplyDelete

Love hearing from you