Due to its crumbly crust, chunky filling and irresistible aroma, homemade apple pie ranks among the most sought-after desserts in the Netherlands. Thankfully, for anyone who wants to sample this delicious dessert while visiting Amsterdam, there are several spots around the city that almost always have apple pie on their menus.
Located in the heart of Amsterdam’s ever-popular de Jordaan quarter, this cosy neighbourhood cafe attracts customers from morning to late at night due to its welcoming ambiance, delightful menu and legendary apple pie. Winkel 43 serves its crumbly, apple-filled masterpiece with generous helpings of whipped cream and offers the pie as a dessert or snack to customers. There’s plenty of room inside the cafe for solo diners, couples and groups and even more seating available outside on Winkel 43’s delightful terrace, which runs alongside Prinsengracht canal.
Even people that lack a sweet tooth may want to visit this cosy, apple pie-serving pub on Prinsengracht canal due to its fascinating four centuries-long history. The pub stands on the ground floor of a townhouse from the mid-1700s and once served as the entryway to a clandestine Catholic church, built during the Reformation when Catholicism was banned in the Netherlands. Despite its lofty age and reputation, Café t’ Papeneiland still feels like a local pub (albeit one that predates the steam engine) and serves everything you’d expect from a Dutch neighbourhood watering hole, not to mention some of the finest apple pie in the entire city.
Every day, the team at de Laatste Kruimel bake, prepare and serve an extensive array of enviable sweet and savoury pastries ranging from meat-filled bread puddings to traditional deep dish Dutch apple pie. These mouthwatering pies, quiches and cakes are displayed behind a wide street-side window, allowing passersby to stare longing at de Laatste Kruimel’s selection, before entering the cafe. It is possible to order their creations to go or settle down with a coffee inside the cafe’s cosy lunchroom.
As Café de Jaren has two spacious floors, with high ceilings and long tables, plus an expansive canal-side terrace, it is easily among the best places in central Amsterdam for peaceful, impromptu coffee breaks among friends. The cafe serves food from the morning until the late evening and offers its dessert menu, which, of course, features homemade apple pie throughout the day. For 50 cents more, Café de Jaren plates its pie with a thick dollop of whipped cream, adding another welcoming layer to this already superb dessert.
This knowingly kitsch cafe has dozens of colourful vintage interior items hanging from its walls, which look as though they were lifted straight out of a Wes Anderson movie (or your nana’s attic). As most of these embroideries, teapots and lampshades are available to purchase, vintage furniture lovers might find it somewhat difficult to leave Latei without something in tow. There are many edible items also available inside the cafe, including freshly made sandwiches, soup and Latei’s signature apple pie. Though it isn’t the best place for large groups, there’s ample space inside the cafe for lunch with a few friends and more seating located outside on Latei’s modest terrace.
This difficult-to-spot cafe is tucked away inside Amsterdam’s oldest church, Oude Kerk, which itself stands in easily the most crowded part of Amsterdam, the Red Light District. Despite its hectic surroundings, the cafe manages to maintain a level of calm that’s rarely found in spots located in Amsterdam’s more central neighbourhoods and feels far removed from the hustle and bustle of the inner city. Aside from offering light but filling daytime meals, alongside fresh coffee, tea and soft drinks, the cafe serves a number of homemade cakes, including a particularly scrumptious homemade apple pie.
Whereas other entries on this list mainly stick to traditional Dutch recipes, Rum Baba makes American-style apple pie, alongside many other popular desserts from across the pond. As Rum Baba runs a bakery and a trendy cafe on the same street in Amsterdam-Oost, its tempting desserts can be purchased straight from the oven or ordered by the slice, alongside a fresh cup of coffee. What’s more, Rum Baba roasts, sells and uses its own brand of coffee beans, which are available by the bag (or shot) at both of its locations.
