The London Food Hotspot: Dominique Ansel Bakery

The ice cream that is taking over the world right now is from Dominique Ansel Bakery and you must be living under a rock if you have not seen a glimpse of this watermelon soft serve with dark chocolate seeds on social media.
It was just my luck that I visited London around a rather sunny weekend, which means that I basically stuffed my face with ice cream all day -no complains here-. Starting off with this fruity creation from Dominique Ansel.

The Bakery is located a few meters away from Peggy Porschen Cakes -the other pink gem full of carbs and sweets-, so my friend and I started our sweet tooth journey there and then walked over the floral building that is Dominique Ansel Bakery. 
At 10:59 precisely we walked into the shop and after having a look at the menu we saw that the watermelon soft serve is only served after 11:00. The guy behind the counter started laughing that we were here at exactly the right time, but I swear that we didn't plan it. I was not going to say that we just stuffed our face with cake and tea at the pink café next door and this was the next stop on our food travels -I mean I love eating, but I have a little bit of dignity left, you know-.

The soft serve is made from fresh watermelon juice, sugar and lime juice. They swirl it around in a fresh slice of juicy watermelon and imitate the seeds with dark chocolate look a likes. The What-A-Melon Soft Serve doesn't come cheap and with £6,50 takeaway/£7,70 eat-in, it will be one the most expensive ice creams I have ever eaten. 
After way too many photo opportunities outside I took a bite and a sweet, watermelon explosion is what happened next. Because of the hot weather it started to melt quickly and I was very happy with the little boat it was served in. Till the juice actually started to drip through the boat. I took a few bites of the watermelon and threw the rest away since pink dots where dropping on the pavement and my shoes. Doesn't mean that I didn't like the ice cream any less.

If you are in London on a hot sunny day -or cold and rainy- and are in the mood for something sweet I highly recommend popping into Dominque Ansel for some watermelon or other baked goods that they have lingering around. I know I will next time I'm around!

Have your tried this amazing soft serve already?

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The Amsterdam Food Hotspot: Vegan Junk Food Bar

I love me a burger and fries. Shake Shack is my bae -do we still use that word in 2018? I don't know but it fits in this particular situation- and whenever I go out for dinner I usually end up in a burger place -or sushi, looooove sushi-. I am all about trying new things and when I heard there was a vegan burger place in town I was all for that. I am not vegan but do like to whack out my vegan cooking skills from time to time and trying out vegan burgers and Dutch 'bitterballen' was something I just had to do.

Vegan Junk Food Bar is quite new to Amsterdam and already has two locations: a small burger bar near 'Vondelpark' and a proper restaurant in the neighbourhood 'De Pijp'. Due to a mix up I went to the restaurant and my friend was at the burger bar. So I hopped on a tram to go and meet her. I think I recommend the place in De Pijp, just for the fact it's a bit bigger. The burger bar was very light though so better for photos. It's just whatever you fancy really.

I ordered the normal VJFB burger and my friend had the double burger. The normal burger consists of: plant-based beef, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, red, spring & fried onion mix, pickles and VJFB sauce. The double has an extra patty, jalapeños and fried onion rings. With that, we also ordered Parm Á San and Truffle fries and some Amsterdam Bitterballen. The food came fast and I have to say it was so freaking good! The burgers by itself looked totally Instagrammable and tasted even more amazing. The fries were to die for and the bitterballen actually tasted almost the same as the real deal. I have had some vegan burgers before -even tried to make one myself- but I have never tasted something like this. I think even a meat lover will like this place and that is saying something. 

A lot of people still think of vegan food as boring and I love that the Vegan Junk Food Bar is kicking ass to prove the opposite. Safe to say it was one of the best burgers I've ever had in my life. The sauce, lettuce and everything worked so well together. The only downside is that it's a bit pricier than your usual Shake Shack combo, but hey it's all worth it knowing that you are eating all the plant based goodness!

Have you ever tried a vegan burger? What are your thoughts on them?

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Vegan ''Nutella'' Cookie Dough Bars

I love cookie dough. When I make cookies I always secretly eat a bit of the dough and there is this cookie dough bar in Rotterdam that makes all my cookie dreams come true. Now cookie dough isn't the healthiest food. The fact that you are eating butter and sugar mixed with flour and eggs can never be good for you, until this recipe! I'm not saying this is healthier than normal cookie dough -it's still a treat after all-, but without the butter, eggs and flour it's definitely a lot safer to eat. 

Nothing beats old fashioned cookie dough, but this comes very close. Because of the hazelnut butter and dark chocolate it tastes pretty much like a Nutella bar. A healthier ''Nutella'' bar that is. I wrapped all the bars up and put them in the freezer. That way whenever I feel a bit cheeky I can just grab a bar and satisfy all my cookie dough and Nutella cravings!

What do you need?
2 cups almond flour
3 tbsp. coconut flour
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 cup nut butter (I used almond & hazelnut)
4 tbsp. melted coconut oil
A splash of vanilla essence
100 gr dark chocolate + 1 tbsp. of coconut oil

Mix the almond flower, coconut flour and coconut sugar with a spatula in a medium bowl. Add the nut butter, melted coconut oil and vanilla essence and mix until you get a dough. Add a bit more nut butter or coconut oil if your dough is still a bit crumbly. 
Press the dough in any little container you have. Do line that container with baking parchment since this will make it easier to get it out. Melt the dark chocolate and the coconut oil in the microwave and spread it out on top of the cookie dough. 
Let it cool down in the freezer for an hour, cut it into slices and there you have it: your own vegan ''Nutella'' cookie dough bars. So easy to make and so yummy to eat!

What is your favourite cookie dough topping?

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The London Food Hotspot: Farm Girl

On my trip to London at the beginning of this year I finally went to the oh so popular Farm Girl Cafe. My friend and I had seen so many buzz about it on social media that we wanted to go no matter what and we did. We had to queue up and ended up waiting about 35 minutes in the cold, but we made it!

Farm Girl Cafe is located in Notting Hill on Portobello Road. I can see why people go on and on about the place. The interior is very stylish, the atmosphere is amazing and the food is tasty and healthy. We sat down near the green wall in the back and both ordered the berry pancakes with maple syrup and strawberries. I had my fresh ginger tea to keep me company and was all ready to demolish the food. The service was very good and the food was brought to our table quickly. I was a bit disappointed though when I saw the pancakes. Not that they were not beautifully presented or tasty, more the fact that there were only two tiny fluffy things on my plate. For 11 pounds I kind of expect to get the most amazing stack of pancakes and this just didn't live up to my expectations. I do get that it might be more expensive to make since they are all vegan and gluten free but still, I wasn't wowed as I thought I would be. Especially since we waited so long outside and were really hangry.

I did have a look at their menu just now and saw a lot of other exciting things, so I might go and have a bite to eat when I'm back in London. You know to prove me wrong.

Have you been to Farm Girl Cafe before? What are your thoughts?

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Vegan Salted Caramel Blondies

Facebook is good for many things: staying in touch with friends, being up-to-date about basically everything and food, especially food. I follow so many food pages on Facebook that I lost count and every time a recipe video pops up in my timeline I have to give it a watch. If I really like it I'll give it a like or save it for whenever I have time to make this delicious recipe. 
The problem is that I never recreate the food in the videos. Not because they are not easy, because believe me they are all so easy to make, but I just don't do it. That was until a few weeks ago when I made these vegan salted caramel blondies that I spotted on The Tasty K. That page is probably my fave, together with Tasty, Buzzfeed Food and Sweeten.

These blondies are vegan, healthy and so easy to make. Will something with no butter and sugar actually taste good? My answer is yes! The dates give it the right amount of sweetness and make it into this lovely chocolaty baked good. I will not say goodbye to my Nutella cookies, but this is a good alternative if you want something healthy and yummy! I did change a few of the ingredients and probably the amounts too because I just don't get the cups system. Where are the grams at?

What do you need?
Dough:
325 gr self-raising flower
125 ml almond milk (more if dough is too crumbly)
2 flax eggs (1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp water = 1 flax egg)
3 tbsp melted mixed nut butter
2 tbsp maple syrup
Dash of vanilla essence 
1 tsp baking powder
Dash of sea salt
50 gr dark chocolate chips

Caramel:
150 gr Medjool dates
120 ml almond milk

Oven: 180°C/ 355°F

First, make the flax eggs and set them aside for at least 10 minutes. Place the self-raising flower, almond milk, nut butter, maple syrup, vanilla essence, baking powder, sea salt and chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl. Add the flax eggs when they are ready and mix it together with a spatula and your hands. I found the dough a bit too dry so I added more almond milk to get nice non-sticky dough. Cut the dough into two equal parts with a knife and line a brownie tin with parchment paper.
Make the vegan salted caramel by adding the Medjool dates, almond milk and sea salt into a blender and mix it until everything is smooth and creamy.

Take a piece of dough and spread it out evenly in the baking tin. Take the dough layer out and repeat it with the second piece of dough. Only this time you leave the dough in the tin. Add the salted caramel on top and spread it out evenly. Then add the other dough layer. Don't push it down because then all the caramel will squeeze right out. -Yes this happened to me-.
Place the tin in the oven for about 25 minutes and then take it out. Let it cool down and take a piece when it's still warm. Nothing beats a bite out of something that just came out of the oven. Don't burn yourself though!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy. So easy to make and delicious too. Want to see this recipe in a video? Click here to see The Tasty K video that made me fall in love with this recipe.

What is your favourite Facebook food page?

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Vegan Raspberry Oatmeal Cookies

Raspberries are probably my favourite fruit. I love the sweet taste and they look so pretty on tarts and desserts. After looking on the web for an easy, healthy recipe I found it. These raspberry oatmeal cookies are easy to make and healthy too. Almost just as easy as my homemade banana bread. You can double the ingredients for a bigger batch of cookies but for a cookie craving this amount is perfect!

What do you need? (for about 5-6 cookies)
1 banana
70g oats
A handful of raspberries (I used frozen ones)

Preheat your oven to 180°C/360°F and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Mash the banana in a large mixing bowl, add the oats and raspberries and mix it together. Take a spoon to scoop the dough out of the bowl and use your hands to press them down on the baking tray. They won't rise a lot, so this is really a must. 
Place them in the oven for about 20 minutes and check if they are golden brown and won't fall apart when you lift them up. 
They are supposed to be quite soft and moist and I really like them. They are not your typical crunchy cookie but these are so easy to make, delicious and really good for you! Click here to see more of my baking posts!

What is your favourite fruit?

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Healthy Vegan Chocolate Snacks

When I was a kid I would always spend my weekend baking things. I would be at my dad’s house and spend my Saturdays searching through cookbooks to find the best recipes. This would result in either the best cake I ever made or a bit of a baking fail.

Now that I am older, 10-year old me with her baking skills still hasn't left me. You could probably already assume that by all the food posts that are on my blog..

Today I’ve not written everything down, but filmed it all! I made these healthy vegan raw chocolate snacks that are soooo yummy. I did post this recipe about a year ago, but since I love these chocolate snacks so much I brought them back in a video.

Get ready to see how I make these amazing snacks and fail a bit when it comes to equipment.

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Raw Oreos

I am a real sweet tooth. Cakes, cookies, pancakes; I love it all! Now lately I have been obsessed with one particular type of cookies and those are Oreos. I just love everything about them, but sadly they are not very healthy.

Last year I bought the book ‘Powerfood’ by Rens Kroes. It’s a Dutch cookbook and yes, her sister is Doutzen Kroes! I have been making lots of healthy things from the book and there was one recipe in particular that I really wanted to try: Raw Oreos. A healthier version of my beloved Oreo cookies. So last week I made them and let’s say they are freaking amazing! They don’t taste like your regular Oreo, but they are sooo yummy and healthy too.

That’s why today I am sharing the recipe of these raw cookies!

What do you need?

Cookies

50 gr oats

180 gr almonds

100 gr unseeded dates

120 gr raw cacao powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Cashew Cream

130 gr raw cashews

Two tablespoons of water

One tablespoon of unsweetened vanilla-extract

One tablespoon of melted coconut oil

A pinch of salt

One tablespoon of agave syrup

How do you make them?

Soak the raw cashews, in water, for 4 hours and soak the unseeded dates, also in water, for 15 minutes.  I prepared the raw cashews the night before, so I probably soaked them for about 12 hours.

Put the oats, almonds, soaked dates, raw cacao powder and cinnamon in a food processor and mix it until the cookie mixture has a fine consistency. I found that the mixture was too crumbly and I couldn’t make proper cookies out of it, so I added a bit of coconut oil to the mixture.

Put the cookie mixture on a piece of baking paper and roll it out until it’s about ½ cm. Then cut out circular cookies, about the same size as an Oreo. I used a glass to do this. It takes a bit of time to get all the cookies to look good, but in the end it went alright. :).

Firstly, clean up the food processor so you can make the cashew cream. Put the soaked cashews, water, unsweetened vanilla-extract, melted coconut oil, salt and the agave syrup in the food processor. Mix it until it has a creamy and smooth consistency.

Now it’s time to make the raw Oreos! Take a cookie and put a bit of the cashew cream on the cookie. Top it with another cookie and press the two cookies together. Repeat this until there are no cookies left.

There you have it: your own homemade raw Oreos! They are super delicious and made with healthy ingredients. You can even put them in the freezer, so that when you are craving something sweet you can just take one out!

Please let me know if you have made these raw Oreos, because they are AMAZING!

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Food | Raw Chocolate Coconut Date Balls

Eating healthy does not mean your diet only consists of foods that slowly turn you into a rabbit. If you have the right recipes you can make treats that are delicious and super good for you! This recipe idea is from the book Powerfood by Rens Kroes.

These chocolate, date balls are so freaking delicious. There are no words to describe how good they taste. And bonus: they are made with healthy ingredients and are super easy to make! I changed up the measurements from the recipe in the book, because I wanted to make a small portion.

So what do you need?

-       10 pitted dates

-       2 handfuls of mixed nuts ( I used almonds, walnuts and cashew nuts)

-       A teaspoon of chia seed

-       A teaspoon of flax seed

-       40 gr raw dark chocolate or two tablespoons of raw cacao powder

-       A tablespoon of coconut oil

-       Shredded coconut

All you need to do is mix the ingredients, except the shredded coconut, in a food processor until it has a fine consistency. Then expect things to get messy when you take a bit of the date/nut mixture and roll it into a small ball. After that you roll it into the shredded coconut and put it on a plate. Repeat this until there is no date/nut mixture left. Put the date balls in the fridge for about 45 minutes and they are ready to eat! YUM!

Food | The BEST Breakfast

I am usually not a breakfast kind of gal, but this porridge is so delicious that it might change my whole breakfast point of view. It started when I was very little that eating bread and eating in general was not my thing in the morning. Even now; when I don’t have time, especially on days where I have to get up early, I just skip breakfast. This is because I am not a morning person and I’d rather sleep for ten more minutes, than slowly do my make-up and have time to sit down and eat. Those days I just go for a granola bar or a banana.

On days where I have plenty of time, this is my go-to breakfast. It is really easy to make, it is super good for you and I am full for such a long time. Do you want to know how to make this colourful bowl? Keep on reading!

The almond milk makes it even creamier, all the seeds are super healthy and the cayenne pepper and ginger powder give your metabolism a huge kick. It is the perfect start of your day!

What do you need?

60 grams of oats

35 cl water

A generous splash of almond milk

A pinch of ginger powder

A pinch of cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon of agave nectar

1 tablespoon of chia seeds

1 tablespoon of flax seeds

1 tablespoon of hemp seeds

Red fruit; such as strawberries, blueberries and raspberries

Put the oats, water, almond milk, ginger powder, cayenne pepper, agave nectar, chia seeds, flax seeds and hemp seeds in a small saucepan. Turn up the heat and stir until it is almost boiling. Turn it to medium heat and keep stirring until it has the perfect consistency. Scoop it in a bowl and top it off with the red berries and maybe a drizzle of agave nectar. Enjoy this bowl of goodness!

Food | Healthy Eating

Photo: Tumblr

Since the beginning of April I am eating very healthy. Not that I didn’t eat healthy before. Believe me, I have been putting flaxseeds in my oatmeal for ages and always ate lots of fruit and veggies. The thing is beside that I love yummy, but bad, food as well.

At my mom we always have ‘‘bad’’ things in the house. Since I am living with my dad this month I do not have those temptations there. We just don’t have any cookies or other yummy things around, so I had to find my own yummy, healthy treats to keep me satisfied.

I have been obsessed with porridge for a while know. I just love it and it keeps me satisfied for such a long time. I will put recipes up of dishes I just absolutely love. But if you can’t wait that long: here are the things I love to eat to keep myself healthy and satisfied.

Rice crackers with hummus

OMG, this is heaven! I love hummus so, so much and the rice crackers are light and low in calories. Amazing lunch or just a healthy snack!

Whole wheat crackers with avocado and a sprinkle of salt and pepper

I love avocado’s; no joke. I eat A LOT of avocado. I just think they are very yummy and they are good for the skin!

Porridge with fresh strawberries

This awesome breakfast or lunch is so filling and super yummy. The strawberries give it a sweet taste and it makes you feel satisfied for such a long time!

Dates

Just a nice and healthy snack. They are so sweet and yummy. Also great to make healthy, coconut balls!

All these foods have resulted in amazing skin! I also drink lots of water and green tea! The perfect combination for good skin!

I will definitely keep up my healthy eating habits. In the weekends I allow myself to eat a few unhealthy things, which is okay in my opinion. As a human you just need to indulge yourself with some yummy treats from time to time!

What are your favourite, healthy foods?

Food | Homemade Vegan Cheesecake

Cheesecake is one of my favourite treats. If I would go to America, The Cheesecake Factory would be the first stop on my journey. That is how much I want to taste there cheesecakes! We all know cheesecake is not the healthiest thing in the world, so I wanted to try a vegan cheesecake for ages! Recently I bought the book Powerfood from Rens Kroes. This book has all the healthy recipes you need, including yummy smoothies, quinoa sushi, raw Oreo's en raw cheesecake. 

I was home alone and felt the urge to make this. I wanted to know what it tastes like, so there I went on my cooking journey. It is a bit of Rens and a bit of me, because I think recipes are made to be broken. I hope you enjoy this healthy, guilt-free treat!

To make two, small, vegan cheesecakes you will need:

Base

1 handful of cashew nuts

2 dates

2 apricots

A sprinkle of cranberries

A tablespoon of hempseeds

A tablespoon of flaxseeds

(In the recipe its dates and almonds, but I only could find two dates at home, so that is why I mixed the apricots and cranberries in there).

Creamy Mixture

1 handful of cashew nuts

Water

1,5 tablespoon of coconut oil

1 tablespoon of agave syrup

A pinch of sea salt

A teaspoon of vanilla essence

Topping

I picked some sugar-free strawberry jam, but you can pick everything you like!

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Let the cashews, for the creamy mixture, soak for at least one hour in a bowl with water.

Step 2: Put the other cashews, dates, apricots, cranberries, hempseeds and flaxseeds in a small blender and stir it all up until everything is cut into tiny pieces.

Step 3: Pick two small glasses, bowls, cups, whatever you like and distribute the mixture equally in the cups you chose. 

Step 4: Now it’s time to press the mixture into the cup. When you’re done just put it in the freezer and wait for the soaked cashews to be done. Or if you are smart and have done that in advance you can start on the creamy mixture!

Step 5: Scoop the soaked cashews out of the water and put them in a small mixer (I washed the one I used earlier). It doesn't matter if a bit of water comes with it. Add the coconut oil, agave syrup, sea salt and vanilla essence in the mixer and blend it all together until it’s thick and creamy.

Step 6: Put the creamy mixture on top of the base you made earlier and make sure that everything is nice distributed.

Step 7: But them in the freezer for at least 45 minutes. If you have already had them in the freezer before they should be done in 20 minutes.

Step 8: Get your treats out of the freezer and let them get on room temperature for about 5-10 minutes or if you are like me immediately dig in. Not before you put a nice layer of strawberry goodness on there and your homemade, vegan cheesecake is all done!

It doesn't taste like real cheesecake, but I do see myself eating this as a small treat. I really like the taste and the fact that it is super healthy! Definitely one of my favourite, sweet treats!