The first morning we woke up in Amsterdam, it was quite early, because we went to bed early from having been awake for 26 hours previously due to traveling and not being able to sleep on the plane. So we set out before most places were open, and I was hoping to be able to get tickets to the Anne Frank House Museum since it was quite early in the morning.
As we walked around on the way towards the museum, the city was so quiet. The day before was King's Day, and the Dutch people celebrated hard, all day. So they slept in that morning. But then we came upon a small crowd... outside the Anne Frank House Museum. So that nipped that idea in the bud. Then we saw a pancake restaurant right next to it. We briefly thought about going there, but it was a little too early so they weren't even open.
We continued on, enjoying the Dutch architecture and landscape before stopping in for breakfast at the simply named Pancakes Amsterdam, at the location in the Negen Straatges area, which was a little farther from the museum and completely empty when we arrived.
I feel like I am always torn between sweet and savory breakfast options, but on this day I went for the sweet and got the lemon curd pancake, while Patrick got the savory goat cheese and spinach one.
Mine even came with a little container of Ben & Jerry's ice cream! I was a little overwhelmed with the sweetness from the pancake so I didn't end up eating the ice cream.
But Patrick's goat cheese pancake left an impression on me (he let me try some of it). I knew I wanted to recreate it after getting home, but then I also saw a reel bycheesesexdeath on Instagram where she made a floral chevre. Both of those came together in my mind and here we have the product.
How To Make Floral Goat Cheese
Making floral goat cheese is very easy. Sourcing the flowers may be a little more challenging, depending on where you live. I am lucky and have 14 Carrot Whole Foods near me, and they stock a wide variety of herbs, spices, and dried edible flowers. I picked up the following:
- Calendula
- Rosebuds
- Hibiscus petals
- Lavender
You can also get:
- Cornflowers
- Chamomille
- Jasmine
- Marigold
- Butterfly pea flowers
Or you can buy pre-made mixes online, like this 1 ounce pack of mixed edible flowers, or this large version with 1.5 cups of six different edible flowers.
Once you have the flowers you want, mix them together unless they already are. Make sure the pieces are small enough to be pleasant to eat, and that no leaves or stems are in the mix.
Place about 2 tablespoons of flowers on a plate or cutting board, in about a 3" circle, flattened.
Use a spoon and your (clean!) hands to form the goat cheese into a 3" puck that is about a ½" to ¾" tall. If it tries to fall apart too much, put it in the fridge to firm up before proceeding to the next step.
Once ready, place the goat cheese puck onto the flower circle, and lightly press down. Gently pick it up and turn over, repeating on the other side.
Then pick up the puck, re-pile the flowers, and roll the edges of the puck through the flowers, gently applying pressure with your fingers to get the flowers to stick. Add any more by hand as needed. Set the flower-covered goat cheese on a plate and put back in the fridge to firm up until needed.
Dutch Pancakes With Floral Goat Cheese
Ingredients
Floral Goat Cheese
- 8 ounces goat cheese (not crumbles)
- 2 tablespoons dried flowers see above
Pancakes
- 1 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 drops vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon butter divided
Garnishes
- honey to drizzle as desired
- blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries as desired
- mint as desired
Instructions
Make the Floral Goat Cheese
- Follow the instructions above to make two rounds of floral goat cheese. Divide the 8 ounces of goat cheese in half to get two floral-covered goat cheese discs. Place the goat cheese discs in the fridge to keep firm while cooking the pancakes.
Make the Pancakes
- Mix the dry ingredients together: flour, sugar, salt.
- In a separate milk, mix together the wet ingredients: milk, egg, vanilla extract. Combine with the dry ingredients and whisk until it's not lumpy.
- Put half of the butter in a 12.5" frying pan over medium heat.
- Once the butter is melted, pour in half of the pancake batter. Tilt the pan to completely cover the bottom with batter.
- Let cook until you see bubbles begin to pop in the batter and it looks dried out, gently use a large spatula to coax the edges up, then go farther in until you can flip the pancake. Cook on that side for another minute or less.
- Set the pancake aside, add the remaining butter, then repeat with the extra batter. You may want to turn the heat down a bit at this point, as I burned my second one.
- Once cooked, place each pancake on a plate and top with the goat cheese disc. Add honey, fruit, and mint to garnish as you wish.
A Note On Some Items I Used...
I used the large 12.5" Our Place Always Pan to ensure a smooth, non-stick cooking experience! This made two large Dutch pancakes using half the recipe from Cakies. Smaller pans will mean smaller pancakes, of course but I wanted to replicate the large pancake experience we had in Pancakes Amsterdam!
And I used the locally made Goat Daddy's goat cheese! I went with a honeycomb variety, but if you don't have access to this excellent product, a plain goat cheese will work just perfectly here, or even the blueberry one from Trader Joe's if you want to be adventurous. Do use whole goat cheese — whether it comes in a log or a disc — NOT crumbles.
Want More Breakfast Foods?
Cheddar Cornmeal Waffles with Cherokee Purple Tomato Coulis