{"id":8363,"date":"2026-10-19T23:31:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8363"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:50:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:50:03","slug":"butterkuchen","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/butterkuchen\/","title":{"rendered":"Butterkuchen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

German Butterkuchen is a cake made by spreading yeast dough thinly on a baking sheet, baking it, and cutting it into squares. Melted butter fills the hollows on the surface, and soft dough lies beneath a thin sugar crust. The butter is not only kneaded into the dough but also placed in the hollows on top. Because it is baked thin and large and is easy to portion, it has been served both at celebrations and at coffee gatherings after funerals.<\/p>\n

The roles of butter in the dough and in the hollows<\/h2>\n

Flour, milk, yeast, sugar, and eggs are combined with butter and kneaded until smooth. The butter mixed into the dough gives the risen yeast dough a pleasant texture. Once the dough has risen well, it is rolled out thinly on a baking sheet. Compared with a tall cake, more of the surface browns, and a single piece offers both the soft dough and the topping.<\/p>\n

Shallow hollows are made in the surface with something such as the handle of a wooden spoon, and small pieces of cold butter are placed evenly over it. Sugar, vanilla sugar, and sliced almonds are scattered over the top, and the dough is left to rise once more before baking.<\/p>\n

As the butter melts in the oven, it spreads from the hollows into the surrounding dough. The sugar on top forms a thin crust, creating a contrast between the moist hollows and the toasty edges. Some modern home recipes (ingredient proportions and method) use 50 grams of butter for the dough and 100 grams for the topping for 375 grams of flour. In this example, the butter for the topping exceeds the amount kneaded into the dough, and butter goes into both the moist parts of the surface and the soft interior.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A slice of Butterkuchen. Sliced almonds and the cross-section of the yeast dough are visible. Photo: SKopp, 2014-05-01, location unknown. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version from the hosting source; no further edits.<\/p>\n

\n\"Butterkuchen\n
Lower Saxony-style Butterkuchen (September 9, 2013, location unknown). The hollows on the surface and white grains of sugar are visible. Photo: Oxfordian Kissuth \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. We made no content changes or cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Guidelines on butter content and the range of formulas<\/h2>\n

The German Food Code guidelines (2025 edition) describe Butterkuchen as a baked good that uses butter as the fat in both the yeast dough and the topping. For the dough and topping combined, they specify at least 30 parts butter, or an equivalent amount of milk fat, per 100 parts of cereal ingredients or starch. This does not mean that 30 percent of the whole cake is butter.<\/p>\n

Almonds are the typical topping, but some versions use walnuts or hazelnuts. Recipes that pour cream over the dough before baking, or brush it on the cake fresh from the oven, add a milky flavor and moisture. In some regions, cinnamon is mixed into the sugar, giving this simple sheet cake a different aroma.<\/p>\n

An old cake name and a formula recorded in a cookbook<\/h2>\n

A usage of the name Butterkuchen taken from a text of 1693 has been handed down. However, this example of the word alone does not establish whether that cake had the same formula or baking method as today\u2019s sheet cake.<\/p>\n

In the recipe for \u201ca good butter cake\u201d in the 1812 \u201cBraunschweig Cookbook,\u201d eggs, cream, lemon zest, cinnamon, and mace are added to the yeast dough, and the top is covered with butter, almonds, and a thick layer of sugar. The recipe is more heavily spiced than today\u2019s, but it shares the practice of mixing butter into the dough and also placing it on top.<\/p>\n

How it differs from Dutch boterkoek, made without yeast<\/h2>\n

The Dutch boterkoek<\/em> also means \u201cbutter cake,\u201d but Rudolph van Veen\u2019s recipe uses no yeast. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour are mixed briefly, pressed into a pan, and marked with a crosshatch using a fork. There are none of the steps found in German Butterkuchen, such as rising twice or placing butter in hollows. Unlike the airy yeast dough, boterkoek bakes into a dense cake.<\/p>\n

\n\"The\n
The top of a Butterkuchen scattered with sliced almonds (October 6, 2010, location unknown). Thin almond slices overlap on the browned dough. Photo: 4028mdk09 \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. We made no content changes or cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

For family joys and for times of mourning<\/h2>\n

In northern Germany, especially in regions such as Lower Saxony, Butterkuchen, which can be cut for many people, is associated with family gatherings. It is served not only at celebrations but also at coffee gatherings after funerals, and is sometimes called \u201ccake of joy and sorrow\u201d or \u201cfuneral cake.\u201d In Bremen as well, this simple cake is chosen for the meal at which relatives gather after a funeral to talk about the deceased.<\/p>\n

A cake baked thin and large is easy to portion for the number of people present, and it can be eaten with a drink without a rich layer of cream sandwiched inside. The same sheet cake is served on ordinary afternoons and at gatherings that mark life\u2019s milestones.<\/p>\n

Local Butterkuchen is also served at the New Year gathering of Loccum Abbey. After a nearby baker retired, the cake was taken over by the Wulf bakery in Rehburg. The bakery\u2019s cake, with a little cream added to the dough and butter packed into the hollows, connects a local event with the work of bakers.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Yeast<\/strong>: A microorganism that produces gas through fermentation and makes dough rise.<\/p>

Rudolph van Veen<\/strong>: A cook who has published a recipe for Dutch boterkoek made without yeast.<\/p>

Mace<\/strong>: A spice made from the aril that covers the nutmeg seed. It is used in the 1812 recipe.<\/p>

Lower Saxony<\/strong>: A state in northwestern Germany. A region where Butterkuchen is rooted in both celebrations and gatherings for mourning.<\/p>

Food Code guidelines<\/strong>: German reference standards that describe the composition and names generally expected of foods. They also help explain the formulas of baked goods.<\/p>

Boterkoek<\/strong>: A dense Dutch butter cake. Its name is close to the German Butterkuchen, but typical versions are not leavened with yeast.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. \n

    \u201cDeutsches W\u00f6rterbuch,\u201d revised edition, \u201cbutterkuchen\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The electronic text was actually read and saved. It cites D\u00f6pler\u2019s \u201cschau-platz,\u201d vol. 1, p. 411, from 1693. The same entry<\/a> in vol. 2, col. 585 of the earlier edition gives only a brief definition and does not include this year. The 1693 original page has not been examined. This is an example of the name in use and does not establish the year of invention, the place of origin, or the specific formula of the time.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  2. \n

    Dr. Oetker, \u201cKlassischer Butterkuchen\u201d<\/a> \u2014 butter in the dough and topping, the hollows, two rises, and variations with nuts and cream.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  3. \n

    Marketing Association of the Lower Saxony Agriculture and Food Industry, \u201cButterkuchen, Zuckerkuchen\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the recipe published on p. 445 of the 1812 cookbook, regional gatherings and names, and cinnamon.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  4. \n

    Deutsche Lebensmittelbuch-Kommission, \u201cLeits\u00e4tze f\u00fcr Feine Backwaren\u201d 2.2.3.1<\/a> \u2014 2025 edition, p. 14: butter in the dough and topping, and the proportion relative to cereals and starch.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  5. \n

    LAVES, \u201cFeine Backwaren mit Butter\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the custom of eating it with afternoon drinks, and the relationship between the name and butter.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  6. \n

    Dieter Sell \/ epd, \u201cZum Butterkuchen bei Eva Radieschen\u201d<\/a> \u2014 post-funeral meals in Bremen, and firsthand interviews with the people at an establishment that serves them.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  7. \n

    24Kitchen \/ Rudolph van Veen, \u201cKlassieke boterkoek\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the Dutch type, made without yeast by mixing butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, pressing the dough into a pan, and baking.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  8. \n

    Marketing Association of the Lower Saxony Agriculture and Food Industry, \u201cRehburg-Loccumer Butterkuchen\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the abbey\u2019s New Year gathering, the handover from a baker to a bakery, and the dough with cream. Treated as an example of a single regional product.<\/p>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Butterkuchen is a German sheet cake made by baking yeast dough topped with butter and sugar. Small hollows line the surface of each low, square piece, and some versions are scattered with thin almond slices. With little decoration, it offers soft dough, the crisp bite of sugar, and the aroma of butter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7308,"menu_order":134,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Butterkuchen","subtitle":"Butter placed in the hollows, a thin sugar crust baked on top","topics":"Butter in the dough, butter on top \/ Hollows that catch the melted fat \/ The formula behind the name \u201cbutter\u201d \/ Cutting one sheet for the afternoon table","country":"Germany","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["nuts","cream","butter"],"texture":["moist","fluffy","smooth"],"occasion":["tea"],"method":["baked","fermented"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[166],"class_list":["post-8363","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t