Ontbijtkoek (Dutch Breakfast Cake)

Ontbijtkoek (Dutch Breakfast Cake)

Ontbijtkoek means “breakfast cake” in Dutch. You’ve gotta love a country that eats cake for breakfast. Enjoy this spice cake at breakfast-time or snack-time. Ontbijtkoek (Dutch Breakfast Cake) is not something Dutch people bake at home. It seems that this cake is almost always store-bought.

There’s one popular brand that defines the taste and texture of Ontbijtkoek (Dutch Breakfast Cake) for many Dutch families, including my husband’s. Since we can’t easily buy Ontbijtkoek here in the US I decided to give it a go. We set the brand that my husband grew up eating as the “ideal” that I would try to replicate.

Trial and Error

I tweaked the mix of spices to get a nice gingery flavor with a hint of clove and nutmeg and a backbone of cinnamon. Using real Dutch stroop not only gives the cake an authentic flavor, it also lends an orange hue to the batter and baked cake. This is definitely a hallmark of the ontbijtkoek my husband grew up with.

Finally, I added a step to cover the pan as soon as it comes out of the oven. This helps create a slightly sticky crust on the loaf, another trait of the ideal cake. I’m so happy with the results of this recipe. I really didn’t think we’d get close to the commercial cake, but we did. Make sure to eat it with lots of good butter for the “ideal” Dutch breakfast.

Ingredients

7½ oz rye Flour (1½ cups, see note)
2½ oz bread Flour (½ cup)
4 oz brown sugar (½ cup)
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon table salt
8 oz whole milk (1 cup)
8 oz Dutch Stroop (¾ cup (see note))

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter a 9″x5″ loaf pan. Cut a piece of parchment paper and line the pan in one direction, creating a parchment paper “sling” for the loaf. In a large mixing bowl add the rye flour, bread flour, brown sugar, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients together to break up any lumps of brown sugar and to distribute the spices. In a large glass measure whisk together the milk and the stroop.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the center of the loaf springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes.
Take the pan out of the oven and set it on a cooling rack. Immediately wrap the top of the pan with aluminum foil. Set it aside until completely cooled, preferably overnight. Remove the foil from the pan and use the parchment sling to lift the cake out of the pan. Serve slices with lots of butter. The cake keeps at room temperature for a week.

Notes

➥ If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.
➥ If you can not find real Dutch Stroop you can substitute with 1/2 cup of honey plus a 1/4 cup of molasses.

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