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What makes a perfect cookie? “A crisp edge, with a soft center. Dark chocolate dough, but each bite, you taste a core of white chocolate, ”explains Vera Van Stapele, baker and owner of Van Stapele Koekmakerij, the cult cookie boutique in Amsterdam. Above all, for her, “you never have to worry about whether or not you will find a chocolate nugget with each bite”.
Its formulation has proven success. After having opened its tiny dark wood shop in the Spui, a 19th century place in Amsterdam, in 2013, it took long before visitors started to queue. The fresh cookies came out of the oven every 15 minutes; The store remained open until the last sold. Last year, Van Stapele decided to move the shop to a new location on the Rokin with a larger capacity: they can now cook 8,000 cookies per day.
The cookie was born from a desire. Van Stapele had studied psychology in Groningen when she started to dream of a particular type of cookie and decided to try to do it herself. “It took me half a year,” she said. “In the evening, I devoted myself to the quest for the manufacture of the cookie I had in my head. Every night, I changed a single ingredient so that if something was not happening or, I knew what the change had caused it. ” The final recipe “is a secret” but it only uses the best quality ingredients, including the Valrhona chocolate from France.
The new space is definitely more chic, with large glass windows and an open view of the bakery. The goods (a cookie for € 3, six for 15 €) are displayed in platforms behind the counter along the batteries of their pale blue gift boxes (€ 5). They generally left around 5 p.m., but if not, leftovers are given to DE REGENBOOG GROEP, which helps individuals to experience loneliness, homelessness and dependence.
Currently, Van Stapele does not intend to diversify. “I love the idea of doing a store with only one thing. Everyone knows what they come from, there are no bad decisions, ”she says. “We could have become very big. We obtain a franchise request or a partnership every day. I want, with all my heart, to keep it as small as possible. ”
Keeping it small allows Van Stapele to stay close to the center of all this. “I am the happiest when I am in the bakery.”
