Boterkoek (Dutch Butter Cake)

May 1: National Butter Day

Highlander flew on KLM Airlines once for a rare international business trip. After working in Germany for a week, he had a one-day stopover in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He did not have time to find too many souvenirs in the city to bring home. But he got a free KLM miniature building as a passenger on business class as a gift. These Delft Blue collectibles contain genever (Dutch gin). Since 1952, and nearly every year since then, only business class passengers have received a miniature building on their flight. KLM commissions a new design annually. Highlander’s 2008 #74 design is worth the minimum but there are serious collectors who pay premium prices for some exclusive miniatures to complete their villages!

We can’t afford to fly business class and collect other cute mini houses. But we can easily make a mini Dutch butter cake. We halved the original recipe because it is rich (like people who can travel luxuriously on KLM), especially since we used European-style butter with a creamier and higher fat content. This type of butter makes this snack cake very flavorful. So splurge on this ingredient to make boterkoek on National Butter Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened (we used European style butter)
  • ¾ cup sugar, granulated white
  • ½ tablespoon almond extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ¼ cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ cup sliced almonds

Directions

In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar. Stir in the almond extract. Beat in the egg. Set asude, In another bowl, combine the flour with baking powder.

Gradually blend this into the butter mixture until smooth. The batter will be thick. Grease a 6-inch round cake pan. Press the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, testing the cake with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from the oven and let cool. Remove from the pan. Slice and serve.

Notes

  • Dutch butter cake is similar to the Swedish Visiting Cake and Spanish Ignacio almond cake recipes.
  • Serve boterkoek with tea and coffee.
  • Learn more about European butter vs. American butter from thekitchn.com website.
  • Search our blog for other Dutch recipes.