Dutch Butter Cake Recipe

The Netherlands are famous for a rich, buttery cake called Boterkoek. It literally translates to Butter Cake. It’s like a super soft and very rich shortbread. I was so excited to recreate this recipe for Dutch Butter Cake that tastes just like what we had in Amsterdam!!

Dutch Butter Cake is super, super easy to make at home — you only need four ingredients!! If you’d like to try this famous Dutch dessert in comfort of your own home, all it takes is about 30 minutes to transport you to a cafe in Amsterdam indulging in this authentic Dutch Boterkoek.

The flavor and texture of this Dutch Butter Cake is honestly out of this world!! So tender and buttery.

Dutch Butter Cake Ingredients

Here’s all you need to make Dutch Butter Cake: sugar, flour, butter, and salt. That’s it!

These simple ingredients allow the flavor of the butter to really shine through. Since this cake is all about the butter, you’ll want to use a good quality butter. I decided to try it with a popular European-style butter — you can find this in just about any grocery store. Since European-style butter is higher in butterfat, it definitely gives the cake a rich, unique taste and silky texture.

However, believe me when I say you can use any kind of your favorite butter and this cake will be fabulous!! But if you’re making this for guests, and you want to really wow them and keep them guessing what the secret ingredient is, try making it with European-style butter.

Baking Note:

I used unsalted butter here, but if you want to use salted butter, just omit the salt in this recipe.

How to Make Dutch Butter Cake

Melt the butter and mix with the flour, sugar, and salt until just combined.

I didn’t brown the butter this time, but I bet a Brown Butter Butter Cake version would be out of this world!!!

Then press into the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish lined with foil. This cake is so buttery I didn’t even bother spraying it with cooking spray. Here’s my trick that makes lining a pan with foil SO much easier.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. The middle will still look very gooey, but the cake is done at the point. All to cool completely before cutting so the cake can set up.

Once cool, remove the foil from the pan and slice into squares. These tiny, ultra buttery squares are SO dangerous!! Be sure to get them out of the house ASAP. :)

Hope you love this Dutch Butter Cake recipe as much as we do!!