Lemon Almond Dutch Butter Cake

I have been wanting to make a Dutch Butter Cake(Boterkoek) for such a long time. My only concern to achieve the correct texture. Some that I saw looked very wet inside. Others seemed to be baked more, and promised a chewy texture like with cookies.

Having read up on Boterkoek I decided that a chewy texture was what I needed. Some Dutch Butter Cakes are simply that, without extra flavours. They often have a pattern scratched on the top. Others have flavours, particularly almonds. You may know that the Dutch do love the almond flavour. They have many confections using almonds. Other Dutch Butter Cakes I saw had a lemon flavour.

For my Dutch Butter Cake I decided I wanted the almond and lemon flavours combined. For the top I decided to use flaked almonds. So I included all of those in this recipe. I think you could also include a little dried fruit too if desired. But I don’t think that is necessary. Also remember that almond extract is very strong. So a little goes a long way.

I also specify 25g of egg for the cake. That is about 1/2 of one medium egg(large in USA). The recipe also uses an egg yolk with some water, to brush over the top. I do suggest, in my video, that you could use the other half of the egg instead of a yolk. However I cannot attest to how that might affect the result.

The cakes are usually flat and quite thin. Most often they are made in a round pan and the cut into wedges. However I am sure they could be made in a square pan and cut as desired.

This is a very easy to make cake. It takes very little time too.

My Bake

I baked my cake for 40 minutes. That gave me the wonderfully chewy texture I wanted. However baking for a shorter time would give a sightly softer texture. In my recipe I detail 30 to 40 minutes, the choice is yours.

My cake baked very swell indeed. I left it in the pan for a few minutes and then turned it out on to a wire rack. Once it was cooled I cut a couple of slices and had a taste. It was fantastic. The lemon and almond flavours worked so well. The texture was just perfect and the flaked almonds gave that little bit of crunch. The edge baked well, giving a slightly caramelised flavour too.

This is a cake I shall make time and again. A slice was perfect with my afternoon tea. In fact 2 slices were even more perfect with afternoon tea.

Another Dutch recipe, using those favourite almonds is Kanos & Rondos – Dutch Almond Cakes

Lemon Almond Dutch Butter Cake

Recipe by geoffcooCourse: Biscuits, Cookies, CakesCuisine: DutchDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Ingredients

• 125g(3/4 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup) plain flour

• 150g(3/4 cup) caster sugar

• 113g(1 stick) softened unsalted butter

• 25g(1/2 of 1 medium(large in USA) egg, beaten

• 5ml(1 tsp) vanilla extract

• 2.5ml(1/2 tsp) almond extract

• zest from one large lemon

• 1 medium egg yolk(large in USA) see note below

• 30ml(2 tbsp) water

• a good pinch of salt

• 25g(1/4 cup) flaked almonds

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F.
• Place the sugar into a large bowl and add the lemon zest.
• Rub the zest into the sugar for about 30 seconds to release the oils in the zest.
• Add the butter to the sugar and beat together until the mixture is fluffy.
• Pour in the beaten egg, the almond extract, the vanilla extract and the salt and whisk to fully combine.
• Tip the flour in and mix until fully combined.
• Spoon the mixture into an 8 inch (20 cm) round cake pan(I lined my base with parchment paper, but that isn’t really necessary).
• Press the batter all over the base and level it off.
• Mix the egg yolk with the water and brush some over the batter, then leave it for 5 minutes.
• Brush more of the egg yolk mixture over the top.
• Sprinkle the flaked almonds on the top and gently press them down, and brush lightly with a little more egg yolk mixture.
• Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the edge has crisped up and pulls away from the side.
• Remove the cake from the oven and leave in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Cut the cake into 12 small wedges to serve.

Notes

• If you wish to use the remaining 1/2 of egg, instead of an egg yolk, reduce the amount of water to 15ml(1 tbsp)