Is it really really broken? Dutch Boterkoek

No, not yet, but like almost every appliance in this house (including the house-owner) it's not functioning at its utmost. "It" is the oven and I made sure it's not listening in on this conversation. I know it's not going to be replaced soon so we need to be friends for a while longer. Not broken completely, but also not functioning at it's best are my washer, the fridge, and the stove. The oven. I was very happy with the oven in this house when we first moved, but I think I gave it a real workout and it's now resembling it's main user..... Still heating up (slower than usual) has a bit of trouble keeping it's temperature even, a bit hot here and there and colder in the extremities. Can't bake a decent cake.

Sometimes I wish they would shut down completely in that I have the ultimate excuse to replace. I'm having a bit of trouble replacing something that is still functioning. I mean my brain is not functioning properly at times and I wouldn't want my husband to go and replace me for a younger upgraded model.

Edit: Aaargh! I know I shouldn't have said this out loud. Draft post. Not good. Noticed I mentioned almost every appliance in my kitchen besides the microwave? Guess what happened last week? Yep, Microwave shut down. Off to the happy baking grounds.

Comforting recipe not using melted butter:

Cashew nut buttercake

(from "Koekje" by Cees Holtkamp & Kees Raat)

75 gr raw -not roasted- cashew nuts

75 gr sugar

75 gr boter softened

pinch salt

pinch fresh ground pepper

75 gr ap flour, sifted

optional: PX sherry/dessert wine for dipping purposes (?!)

- Using a food processer, ground nuts and sugar to a fine powder.

- Add butter, salt and pepper and stir to blend with a wooden spoon.

- Add the sifted flour and knead to dough.

- Lightly flour your workspace and proceed to roll out a disk 24 cm wide.

- Line the bottom of your pan with parchment paper and butter the sides, transfer the dough disk to the pan.

- In a pre heated oven 170 C, bake for 18 minutes.

After 10 minutes cooling, slice and serve. It's quite rich and usually is served in small pointy slices. This recipe suggests you dip your slice in a glass of sweet dessert wine or sweet (PX) sherry.

Our grandmothers used a shallow low-rimmed pan, you can use a springform pan (22 cm) or a cake pan, perhaps a pie plate will work? In case of a spring form I would suggest wrapping the outside of the bottom and up the sides with tin foil in case of butter-leakage.

the original Dutch recipe for "boterkoek" is not using nuts and results in a nice tender crust with a soft rich center, this one is somewhat more crumbly but I really liked the flavour!