Chocolate lovers, pay attention! This no-bake cake is a delicious chocolate treat that is both easy and cheap to make. I love quick and easy recipes that mostly use ingredients you probably already have at home. This classical Dutch cake only uses sugar, raw egg, cacao, Maria biscuit and butter.

I made Arretjescake quite a few times before, but never really knew where the name came from. Now I finally looked it up, and it’s actually quite suprising. The name 'Arretjescake' apparently came from the ‘Arretje Nof’ books. In 1929, the first 'Arretje Nof' books were handed out as an advertising gift by a Dutch oil company (Nederlandsche Oliefabrieken (NOF)). The recipe for Arretjescake was shared by the NOF to promote their new products, a new kind of frying oil and a margarine, both could be used to make ‘Arretjescake’.

We'll we can say that it was successful advertisement, as we are still enjoying the classical Arretjescake almost a decade later.

Dutch Arretjescake Recipe

• Preparation time: 20 minutes preparing, 3 hours waiting.
• Serves: 8 slices

Arretjescake is not only very tasty, it’s also super easy to make! It uses ingredients you probably already have at home. A perfect treat for lazy day chocolate-cravings!

Ingredients

• 100 gram Maria Biscuits
• 100 gram sugar
• 1 egg
• 25 gram cacao powder
• 75 gram unsalted butter
• Chocolate sprinkles (to decorate)

How to make Dutch Arretjescake?

1. Melt the butter
2. Mix the egg and sugar until light and fluffy using a hand mixer.
3. Add the cacao in parts and carefully stir through the egg and sugar mixture.
4. Add the melted butter to the mixture and mix until it becomes equal and smooth.
5. Break the biscuits into small pieces. (Tip! Place the biscuits in a zip-lock bag and smash with a rolling pin).
6. Add the pieces of biscuit to the mixture. Use a spoon to carefully mix the biscuit in.
7. Let rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Tips & Triva

Did you know that they make a similar cake in Italy? Salame al cioccolato has the same ingredients, but is presented in a different way. The cake is rolled in foil and topped off with icing sugar to make it look like a real salami!