Stephan
A typical Dutch type of large, soft cookie-shaped cake, sweet and a little dry.
Eaten as a popular ‘not-too-unhealthy’ snack all through the day in the Netherlands and Belgium. They can be found in almost any store or stall that sells any baked goods, but making them yourself is, like getting them fresh from a bakery, much nicer 🙂
| Ingredient | Amount (8–12 cakes / 2 trays) |
|---|---|
| Flour | 100 g |
| White caster sugar | 85 g |
| Vanilla sugar | 8 g (1 baggy) |
| Eggs | 2 |
| Baking powder | 4 g (± 1½ tsp) |
| Lemon (zest only) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 g (± ¼ tsp) |
Tools
| Oven |  Upper + lower heat |
| Bowls | 2x |
| Standard measuring devices | Grams scale, teaspoon |
| Electric Mixer | With normal mixing attachments |
| Whisk | |
| Grater | |
| Spatula | |
| Baking trays | 1 plate per 4–6 cakes |
| Tablespoons | 2x |
| Cookie spatula | |
| Oven rack | To cool them down on |
Step by Step
| 1 | Oven → Preheat 175 ºC | |
| 2 | 100 g flour, 4 g baking powder, 1 g salt → Into Bowl 1 | 2 min |
| 3 | 1 lemon → Grate yellow zest into Bowl 1 → Mix with whisk | 3 min |
| 4 | 85 g caster sugar, 8 g vanilla sugar, 2 eggs → Into Bowl 2 → Mix with mixer until thick & airy (± 6 min) | 3 min |
| 5 | Add Bowl 1 contents to Bowl 2 → Slowly mix with spatula | 7 min |
| 6 | Two tablespoons, Baking trays → Scoop dough, 4–6 per tray → Lightly spread scoops into thick circles → Keep space between, cakes will expand x2 | 4 min |
| 7 | Baking trays into oven → Bake for 12 minutes | 12 min |
| 8 | Check if golden brown, take out → Cut off the plates directly with cookie spatula → Cool down on rack | 2 min 5 min |
| (± 38 min) |
Variation
| More crispy | Raise temperature, shorten time / or use convection oven (e.g. 190 ºC for 10 min) |
| More soft | Add hot water bowl to oven, lower temperature, increase time (e.g. 170 ºC for 15 min with water) |