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 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 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.

But where to start? None of our Dutch cookbooks have a recipe for Ontbijtkoek. Time to go on-line.

I found very few recipes on-line. Actually, I found two original recipes on-line and a whole bunch of websites that simply copied one of the recipes with no or very minimal changes. Some of those websites even used stock photos of commercial Ontbijtkoek instead of actually baking the recipe. Geez…

Anyway, the two recipes were quite different. Recipe #1 used half rye flour and half all purpose flour and recipe #2 used all rye flour. Recipe #1 used milk for liquid. Recipe 2 used water. #1 had way more baking powder than #2. Finally, #1 used a combination of honey and molasses while #2 used Dutch stroop to sweeten the cake.

I baked both loaves to see which was closer to the “ideal”. My husband and I both thought neither cake was perfect and that the ideal would be somewhere between the two.

I liked the rye forward flavor in recipe #2, so I use mostly rye flour in my recipe. Now, rye flour does not have gluten and all by itself will make a very dense cake. Without gluten, the cake can’t form a nice structure to hold air pockets in the batter.

I added a bit of bread flour to support the structure of the cake. I also tested it with all purpose flour to see if that would work. The cake made with AP flour was pretty good, but we thought the cake made with bread flour was a little “spongier” and had a better texture.

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.

How to make Ontbijtkoek (Dutch Breakfast Cake:

• Butter the loaf pan then line the pan with parchment paper to create a “sling”. The sling makes it easy to lift the loaf out of the pan when it’s cooled.

• Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
• Combine the wet ingredients in a measuring cup or small bowl.

• Whisk the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients to combine.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients then pour the batter into the pan.

• Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake until the cake springs back.
• Immediately cover the pan with foil and set aside overnight.

Tips for making authentic Dutch Breakfast Cake:

• If you can find it, use real Dutch stroop (see the link in the recipe card. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases). In a pinch you can use a combination of honey and molasses. See the recipe notes for amounts.
• Line the pan with a parchment “sling”. Not only does the sling keep the cake from sticking, it makes it very easy to lift the baked loaf out of the pan.
• A combination of mostly rye flour and some bread flour makes a cake with just enough gluten to form a good crumb. All purpose flour will make an acceptable cake if you can’t get bread flour.
• I know it’s hard to wait. But do wrap the pan and set the cake aside overnight to form a sticky crust. The long rest also gives the spice flavor time to develop.
• Serve Ontbijtkoek with lots of butter. If you notice, there is no fat in the recipe. A good schmear of butter is exactly what you want on a slice of this cake.
• The cake keeps well at room temperature for a week.

Want more authentic Dutch recipes?

• Dutch Apple Tart
• Dutch Sugar Bread
• Dutch Speculaas Cookies
• Dutch Savory Pancake
• Dutch Stroop Waffels
• Dutch Boter Koek
• Dutch Filled Speculaas Cake
• Spekkoek (Thousand Layer Cake)

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