In one of my previous posts, I mentioned being a part of a private “Los Angeles based women only” group on Facebook. This group is intended for networking and friendship making, but sometimes we get a little off topic with dating/sex advice, politics and pet relocations. I try to stay out of the drama (although it can be entertaining to read) and focus on finding some of the coolest LA female professional foodies out there. One of the members, Alia Schrader, mentioned in a post that she manages a food truck, Sweet Amsterdam, so I decided to drop by. Dessert sounded amazing and I love supporting new business, so I decided to get a sugar rush.
Sweet Amsterdam
For locations, follow their social media pages
Instagram: @SweetAmsterdam
Twitter : @Sweet_Amsterdam
Facebook: http://facebook.com/sweetamsterdam
The ladies of Sweet Amsterdam
I read on their social media pages that this truck specializes in Dutch waffles and pancakes. To be honest with you, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. Previous to my Sweet Amsterdam experience, I didn’t know of Dutch waffles and pancakes, but I’m always game to try something new! The owners Farhad Faqiri and Jessanne Oliva actually never had formal kitchen training. They met through friends, and decided to quit their 9 to 5’s and turn their passion for food into a business. If they keep this up, I don’t think they’ll be going back to their day jobs anytime soon.
The making of a wafel
There are 4 different wafels (not waffles, there’s a big difference) to try. I started with this summer’s most popular item, the S’mores Wafel. This hot dessert sandwich starts with the stroopwafel, pronounced strope-Waffel, which is a very thin, lightly crunchy, fresh off the iron dough that has caramel baked in the middle. Now, you can stop there and enjoy that alone. Or, you can be like the majority of their summer LA patrons and s’more it up with flamed marshmallows, Speculous brand cookie spread and chocolate syrup.
The making of a S’mores Wafel
The complete S’mores wafel
You can watch a video of the creation here. The stroopwafel has a better flavor than the American tradition of graham crackers, which always just crumbled on me. I’m now having memories of the graham cracker crumbling on me and the hot marshmallow burning me – OUCH! This dessert is a more sophisticated flashback to your summer camp. And no finger burns!
Classic Poffertjes
I didn’t think it could possibly get better than the S’Mores Wafel but it did. I tried Poffertjes, pronounced puff-er-chess, for the first time. Appearance wise, they look like a smaller, less round ebelskiver, with the same texture. Flavor wise, it’s on the savory side, like a mix of a pancake and a beignet (or as I liked to call them as a child, “snowy mountains”).
Most customers order the Poffertjes either with Nutella or the classic style, which is served with butter and powdered sugar. I ordered my Poffertjes with powdered sugar, butter, a side of maple syrup and a scoop of salted caramel gelato. No, I wasn’t stoned. It was just recommended to me and… when in Rome, right? Or in this case… when in Culver City, right? If you’re a lover of sweet and savory together, like I am, this is a heavenly treat for you. The iciness of the gelato goes beautifully with the hot poffertjes, for a dessert feel and dipping the poffertjes in the maple syrup has a breakfast feel to it. All flavors mixed together are also just an epic dessert explosion. Their gelato is provided by Gelato Lounge in Marina Del Rey, which will probably be reviewed on here soon.
To wash all the sweetness down, they’re now selling their own cold press coffee, which is served in a cute mason jar. They offer traditional cold press black coffee, molasses coffee and molasses coffee with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Soon, the wafels will be sold in various locally owned coffee shops in LA. Be sure to keep up with them on social media to find out where and when. I believe they’ll be expanding into another truck very soon, so hopefully, LA will have double the locations to choose from. If you’re a business owner that’s trying to scrape together the funds to expand and improve operations, you might do well to apply for credit in order to get the money you need to progress your business – the top 3 places to get a free online credit report.
Instagram & Twitter : @SweetAmsterdam
Facebook: http://facebook.com/sweetamsterdam
