You won’t find Patisserie Holtkamp on Instagram. It’s not on the most beautiful street and if you want to eat their delicacies you’ll have to take them away. But this is Amsterdam’s finest bakery and if you don’t believe me then perhaps you’d like to hear from the ultimate food master Yotam Ottolenghi who lived and worked in Amsterdam and who has said on more than one occasion that Holtkamp is:
probably the best bakery in Amsterdam…perhaps best known for its brilliant croquettes
And indeed he’s right. Suppliers of croquettes (or in Dutch kroketten) to the Dutch Royal Family, this small Art Nouveau ‘banketbakkerij’ punches way above its weight on both the sweet and savoury fronts.
As well as the very lightest and dreamiest of crumbly cheese biscuits their savoury mainstay is the infamous kroket. In addition to producing them for the Royal family and many of Amsterdam’s finest restaurants, they can be bought in store in cheese, prawn and veal varieties, boxed up and piping hot for you to take to a canalside picnic.
If you’re after something sweeter, there is no end of patisserie perfection to tempt you. From cakes to biscuits, Dutch chocolate houses to macaroons, and slices of Dutch favourites like Tompuce, you could end up taking a while to narrow down the options.
This place is utterly authentic and loved by Amsterdammers. It’s not cheap, it’s not a place for selfie and if you want a coffee with your cake you’ll need to grab one next door and then head off canalside to enjoy your baked treasures. If you go to Holtkamp you go for the food. For world class sweet and savoury bakes.
Mary Berry, eat your heart out.
(and if you’re crazy enough to want to recreate your own – you can find Yotam Ottolenghi’s take on his attempt to heat up his Holtkamp croquettes and subsequent recipe here)