Liverpool’s Dutch-inspired cafe shares secret of Dam fine pancakes!

It might not be the first place which springs to mind when you think of Amsterdam, but a Walton Road café is bringing a flavour of the Dutch capital to the city.

The Taste of Amsterdam is a fab new eaterie offering the perfect pancakes for which it’s famous.

And Roxanne Walsh, business relations manager, says it couldn’t have been ‘batter’ received by scousers.

“Liverpool has really taken to the pancakes,” she says, “they’ve been received very well.

Chris and Jo

“The pancakes are called ‘poffertjes’ in Amsterdam and they are small, only two or three inches in diameter. They are not like traditional American pancakes or thinner crepes, but really light and fluffy pancakes that puff up like little flying saucers.”

And she adds: “We have one gentleman who said he used to fly over to Amsterdam to get the pancakes and fly back in the same day. He loves them so much that when we first opened he used to come in three times a day!”

The Taste of Amsterdam is the brainwave of Jo Mologe, who’s Dutch, and her husband Chris. They opened the café in Walton Road 18 months ago, and one in Prescot Road, Kensington, in November last year.

They’d had success with a Vape shop in Anfield and, when that did well, they wanted to establish new businesses in the area, and thought the pancakes would be something people would love.

“Following the outbreak of the pandemic, and people being unable to get together, we wanted to provide our local community with a place to come together for a brew while giving them a taste of their favourite weekend getaway that they hadn’t been able to visit,” say Jo and Chris.

“Liverpool has its own native dishes, like Scouse, that it’s well known for, and lots of different restaurants and cuisines, and it’s good to add something else to complement those,” adds Roxanne, who adds that the cafes also sell other favourites like Dutch chocolate and Stroopwafels. “It’s just a little bit different.

“As well as the cafes themselves, where people can sit in or take away from, we do well on platforms like Uber Eats and Just Eats when people who have been to Amsterdam, and enjoyed the pancakes there, want to taste them again back home.

“The goal eventually, once the Kensington café is established, is to move into the city centre, and then to establish this brand in Europe as well. We’re working towards that.”

Instead of plain flour, the poffertjes use self-raising flour, as well as eggs, milk and a pinch of salt.

And they are cooked using a special machine which heats to around 220 degrees to ensure they’re perfectly cooked and light.

“People are often surprised when we offer portions of 10, 15 or 25, until they see how small they are, and how light they taste,” continues Roxanne. “Traditionally families in Holland would use a traditional poffertjes pan, which you can buy.”

Favourite toppings people choose are Nutella and chopped nuts, or a Biscoff crumb and sauce, but more original ones of Dutch syrup as well as butter and icing sugar – the most traditional – are popular too.

And if you want to make them yourself…

Jo and Chris’s recipe for poffertjes

(makes around 50)

350g of self-raising flour

2 large eggs

350ml of milk

pinch of salt.

Method: Just put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk for at least five minutes to put lots of air into the batter and keep them light and airy. Cook until they are a perfect golden brown.

Buy your own patisse pan set here.