Dutch Spiced Honey Breakfast Cake
A dense, lightly spiced Dutch breakfast cake with warm notes of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Sliced thin and served with butter, it's a beloved Dutch treat that's simple to make and endlessly comforting.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Servings
- 8
- Calories
- 380
- Protein
- 5g
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups All-purpose flour
- ½ cup Rye flour
- 1.5 cups Light brown sugar, packed
- 1.5 teaspoons Ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon Ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon Ground ginger
- 1.5 teaspoons Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Fine sea salt
- 1 cup Whole milk, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons Unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted butter, for serving
Instructions
- 1
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper — this prevents sticking and makes it easy to turn out the finished cake.
- 2
In a medium bowl, whisk together 2.5 cups all-purpose flour, 0.5 cup rye flour, 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 0.75 teaspoon ground cloves, 0.5 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 0.25 teaspoon ground ginger, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder, and 0.5 teaspoon fine sea salt. Set aside.
- 3
In a large bowl, combine 1.5 cups packed light brown sugar with 4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well combined and slightly fluffy, about 2 minutes. The mixture should look like damp sand with some small clumps of butter — this is correct.
- 4
Pour 1 cup room-temperature whole milk into the sugar-butter mixture, then add the flour mixture. Stir gently and methodically with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, until just combined — the batter should be thick and slightly lumpy, like porridge. Do not overmix; a few streaks of flour are fine and will disappear during baking.
- 5
Pour the thick batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top gently with a damp spatula. The batter will spread and rise as it bakes.
- 6
Bake for 35–40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. The cake should be deep golden brown on top and feel firm to a gentle touch, but don't press hard or you'll deflate it.
- 7
Remove the ontbijtkoek from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes — you'll see it shrink slightly from the sides, which signals it's ready to turn out.
- 8
Turn the cake out onto a wire rack and peel away the parchment paper. Let it cool completely to room temperature, about 30 minutes. The cake will continue to set and develop its dense, moist crumb as it cools.
- 9
Once cool, slice the ontbijtkoek into 1/2-inch-thick slices using a sharp serrated knife — use a gentle sawing motion to avoid compressing the cake. Serve each slice topped with a thin spread of softened unsalted butter. Ontbijtkoek is traditionally eaten for breakfast or as a snack with coffee or tea.
Tools you’ll need
- 9-inch loaf pan
- Parchment paper
- Medium mixing bowl
- Large mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Whisk
- Rubber spatula
- Toothpick
- Wire cooling rack
- Serrated knife
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