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Dessert

Boterkoek

A Dutch butter cake made with flour, baking powder, sugar, butter, almond extract, salt, egg yolk, egg white, and optional slivered almonds.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Boterkoek

Oven350°F
Time35 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dough

  1. Grease a 1 1/2 x 8-inch round cake pan and dust it with flour.

  2. Mix the flour, baking powder, and sugar.

  3. Cut in the butter. Make sure the butter is neither too hard nor too soft (remove from fridge 1 hour before using).

  4. Mix well.

  5. Add almond extract, salt, and egg yolk.

  6. Mix well or just grease your hands and knead the dough until it is very smooth.

Shape and bake

  1. Place the dough into the prepared pan and press down firmly.

  2. Brush the top generously with the egg white.

  3. Place slivered almonds on top of the cake for extra flavor (optional).

  4. Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes.

Cool

  1. Allow to cool thoroughly before serving.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

691Calories
20 gProtein
19 gFat
108 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the structure of the cake as it sets in the oven.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, giving the cake a tender, crumbly texture.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown during baking.
Egg yolk
Adds richness and helps bind the dough together.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes lighter.

The step that matters

Butter temperature. Butter that is too hard will not blend evenly into the flour, and butter that is too soft will make the dough greasy and dense. Softening it to a medium-firm consistency lets it combine smoothly and gives the cake an even, tender crumb.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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