The Amsterdam Food Hotspot: Ted's

Brunch is one of my favourite things. Going to a hip café for some avo on toast or cooking up French toast at home: I LOVE IT. Now there is a café in Amsterdam that does brunch the best and that's Ted's.

I first went to Ted's a couple of months ago and OMG how happy I was when the food arrived. I ordered the French toast with banana and bacon and I happily covered it in lots of maple syrup and demolished them all.
It didn't take long before I payed them another visit and this time I ordered the Nutella drizzle banana pancakes -Doesn't this sound like the best thing?-.  And okay yes I also ordered the French toast, but I shared it with a friend okay. Don't make me feel bad about ordering the entire menu. 

Before we talk more about the food -my favourite subject ever- I will share a bit more about the ambiance and location. In Amsterdam it's located near the Bilderdijkstraat. Such a lovely neighbourhood with other hotspots like Gallery 3, Happyhappyjoyjoy, Mook Pancakes and the Food Hallen. It's a tiny cafe, but I have always managed to find a seat. And if it's too busy just hop to one of the other food places I mentioned! The staff is very friendly and considering there are only two of them it could sometimes take a while. Not the best to cure your hangry mood. The place is nicely decorated and full of Instagrammable quotes and lights. Overall, a lovely place to hang around and have a bite.

Because besides pancakes and French toast they also serve egg dishes, sandwiches, burgers and cake. Basically everything you need to complete your brunch. The fries there are amazing -so is the mayo- and the cheesecake is pretty tasty as well. I always order a fresh ginger tea when I'm there because that's what I order everywhere. The spiciness of the water with a hint of lemon is what gets me going the entire day. And the thought of those Nutella pancakes helps a lot too. Obviously!

What is your favourite brunch dish?

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Obsessed with Stripes

Stripes. Such a classic when it comes to fashion and no matter what season it is they are always in style. Now I have a sweet spot in my heart for these vertical and horizontal lines. Back in my teenage years I had this big oversized stripy shirt that I wore to death. I actually had two of them and it was safe to say I didn't change my outfit as much as I should have. I did change the shirts though. When one was being washed I would wear the other shirt. Such a smart idea, right?

Back to the present where I still love my stripes and do change my outfit more frequently. When my eye fell on this top from SheIn* I had to get it. I have been a huge fan of the off shoulder trend and this top combines that with one of the other mega trends this season: ruffles. It gives the top this bohemian, stylish edge and makes me fall in love with stripes all over again. 

Although I can't wait to rock this top with a black denim skirt and sandals it's a bit too cold at the moment. That's why I paired it with a pair of blue mom jeans, some faux suede mules and a double buckle belt. No worries, when I was out and about I also threw on my furry coat. -Yes, it has been that kind of cold. I wouldn't be surprised if snow started to fall down from the sky.- 

I haven't worn blue jeans in such a long time, but I love the look of these with the dark blue top. The buckle belt also goes great with the outfit and a bouquet of fresh tulips makes every picture better don’t ya think?

I will be hopping off to warmer temperatures this week -Go to my Instagram to see it all- and I can't wait to wear this top A LOT. Maybe pairing it with a pinafore dress or some floral shorts, who knows? I definitely packed enough to match this top with absolutely anything! #travelproblems

What is your favourite trend this season?

*The item with a * was kindly send to me. My opinion and fabulous outfits are completely my own.

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The Rainbow Cake

On the 12th of April I turned the magical age of 23. The saddest part is that the Taylor Swift song '22' doesn't apply to me anymore, but that doesn't make me stop singing and dancing to it when I’m having a solo pyjama party. The best part is that I'm a step closer to adulthood. At least that's what I hope.

One of the things I really wanted to do this year was making the most amazing birthday cake and I'm very happy to share the end result with you. If you follow me on Instagram you'll probably have seen this colourful creation before but I made a rainbow cake! Yes you read that right, six layers of fluffy cake with the best cream cheese frosting you will ever taste. 
I followed the rainbow cake recipe from the book Tanya Bakes and switched some things around ingredient wise, since she went for seven layers of cake and butter frosting. Another thing that I changed: the time. It's lovely that cookbooks say how much time you will be spending whilst making it, but it's the biggest lie I've ever seen. I always spend way more time and this was definitely the longest I have ever been in a kitchen because I spend about 9 hours (!) baking this cake. It was totally worth it though, best cake I've ever eaten!

What do you need for a six layer rainbow cake?

For the sponges:
580g softened butter
580g caster sugar
580g self-raising flower
11 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 teaspoons baking powder
6 food colourings (purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red)

For the frosting:
500g good quality cream cheese
300g softened butter
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
300g icing sugar

Oven: 180C/350F/GM4

First, preheat your oven and grease and line your cake tins with baking paper. I used two cake tins at the time, since I didn't want to buy six and my oven is not big enough anyways. It will take a bit longer this way though.

Take a large bowl and cream together your butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix it all together. Then last but not least, add the baking powder and self-raising flour to get a smooth batter.

Split the mixture between 6 bowls and add a different food colour to each bowl. Keep adding some drops until you are happy with the colour of the mixture. Scoop the colourful batter out of the bowls and into your cake tins. So either scoop the mixture in six cake tins or do it two at a time.
Bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes. When they are fully cooked and fluffy you get them out and let them cool down on a wire rack. I cut off the top bit of the cakes to make them even and perfect for layering.

For the icing: cream the butter in a bowl until it's pale and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and vanilla extract and mix it together. Slowly add the icing sugar and mix again until you have a thick, smooth mixture. Use half the icing for the layers and the other half for the outside of the cake.

Layer the cakes with some icing in between and then ice the outside of the cake. Make sure that it looks as neat and smooth as possible. -mine doesn't look as pretty as Tanya's version but I'm already happy that it turned out okay.- Add some sprinkles or cake crumbs on top and your cake is done!

I am going to be honest here and say that this is the best cake I've ever eaten. The best cake prize always belonged to the red velvet cake from De Drie Graefjes bakery in Amsterdam, but they hopped down to second place. This cake is just so fluffy and moist –I know everyone hates this word but I don’t mind that much- and the frosting makes it even better. Cream cheese frosting is so much better than butter frosting in my opinion! 
I do advise to have a lot of people over when you make this cake because it's a BIG cake. We actually weighted the cake and it's 4,5kg (!). Also not the most healthy option but hey it's my bday so if there is a day where you can eat lots of crappy food it's now!

Want something easier? Try these salted Nutella cookies or other baking recipies I posted!

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