My Little Patisserie
Authentic French delicacies in Amsterdam? Yes it's true!
My Little Patisserie is a Parisian style bakery in the heart of De Pijp district in Amsterdam, specializing in classic French Pastries. Think of Choux buns, Eclairs and Mille-Feuilles.
All pastries are made fresh every morning by the French owner in her boutique using only the best ingredients.
You can also sit down in the shop and enjoy a coffee with your pastry.
For more information, please visit My Little Patisserie.
Valentine's Shortbread Hearts
We've already given you a recipe for shortbread, but here's a twist turn turn them into Valentine's heart cookies.
Ingredients
250 g flour
75 g castor sugar
150 g unsalted butter
pinch of salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 170° C.
Place the flour, sugar, butter and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and starts binding together.
Remove the dough from the food processor and knead lightly until the mixture comes together. Roll the pastry out thinly cut into hearts with a pastry cutter. Place onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and prick with a fork to prevent them rising too much.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes until pale golden. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with castor sugar. Allow to cool completely. Decorate with pink icing) or any color of your choice. You can either make your own or use store bought.
Shortbread keeps well for a couple weeks if stored in an airtight container. But if you're as greedy as we are, it will probably only last a couple of days!
If you don't have a food processor, shortbread and also be made by hand.
We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours
United Pancakes
United Pancakes brings the classic and much loved Dutch pancake into the 21st century. They've been open for 3 months and are redefining the way we eat pancakes. They are making pancakes accessible to everyone.
United Pancakes was born out of the fact that there were no artisan pancake restaurants. They noticed a gap in the market and so this brand was born.
All their products are organic and everything is homemade. Flour comes from their own mill and is available to purchase in the their little shop together with homemade apple and pear syrups, old fashioned Dutch candy and their own branded aprons, t-shirts a baby ware.
The restaurant has a great intimate atmosphere with rough bare brick walls and lots of old wood. It's also an ideal place for kids and the staff are friendly and very attentive.
A new addition are pancakes to go, which is great if you need your pancake fix but don't have the time. It's cooked fresh to order then filled with the topping/flavouring of your choice to enjoyed on the go. We took ours to go as we didn't have much time and it was without doubt one of the most delicious pancakes we've had in a while. We will be back!
For more information, please visit United Pancakes.
Pears Baked in Red Wine
Serves 8
Ingredients
1 to 1½ bottles robust Italian red wine
rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange
2 cloves
½ cinnamon stick
4 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
200 g sugar
8 pears (Conference or Williams)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180° C. Place all the ingredients except the pears in a pan with a little extra water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Wash the pears, remove the core from underneath with a pomme Parisienne- bore (or with a teaspoon), leave the stalk on.
Place the pears in the pan, stalks pointing up. Bake in the oven without a lid for 1½ hours. In the beginning the pears should be almost covered with wine, later this will evaporate, leaving a sort of caramelized skin on the top of the pears.
Take the pears out of the cooking juice carefully so as not to break the skin, and place on a serving dish. Strain off the cooking juices and reduce until the syrupy in texture with a good rich flavour. Allow to cool slightly and serve with the pears.
This dish may be eaten hot or cold. Delicious served with ice cream or mascarpone flavoured with vanilla.
We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours
