Gateau Basque

I haven't put up a recipe in a while because I'm finding it almost impossible to bake anything at Georgetown. Without my usual pans, books, and baking gizmos I feel so crippled and helpless...unable to whip up a meringue or even roll out a batch of cookie dough when I feel like it. It makes me very sad and might account for some of my unhappiness thus far. There are a few things that I have to keep in my life to stay sane/functioning and baking is definitely one of them...

Thank goodness that I had the time to make Gateau Basque several times this week in all of its glorious variations! Hooray~



Here is the recipe as adapted from the Zen Chef at chefsgonewild.blogspot.com

Dough:
250 grams flour
125 grams sugar
125 grams butter
25 grams almond flour
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 egg
1 pack yeast
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange

Pastry Cream:
1/2 Liter Milk
3 egg yolks
100 grams sugar
50 grams flour
1 vanilla bean
1 tbsp rum (optional)

For the pastry cream:
Scrape the vanilla bean, removing its precious seeds and whisk into the milk. Heat to a rolling boil. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until the yolks turn a pastel yellow and have grown quite a bit in volume. Fold in the flour into the egg yolk mixture carefully until fully incorporated. Now combine the hot milk mixture and the beaten egg yolks. (Remember to be extremely careful at this step- you don't want to risk curdling your eggs! Because the milk is considerably hotter than the egg yolks, you should add a small ladleful of milk to the egg yolks while whisking quickly. The goal is to bring the temperatures of the two mixtures closer together so that there is no separation of the different components.) Place the mixture back on the flame and heat until nearly boiling. The consistency of the mixture will gradually become a custard. Add the rum and take off the flame. Cool for several hours until it reaches room temperature.

For the dough:
Combine the flour, sugar, butter. zest, yeast, and almond flour in a large bowl. Mix gently until the dough resembles sand and then add the egg and almond extract. Combine until the mixture just comes together. Chill for 30 minutes until the dough isn't quite so sticky and is more manageable. Press into the pan of your choice.

Fill the pan with the cooled pastry cream and top with the fruits of your choice. Gateau Basque is traditionally made with either jam or pastry cream, but I like the added texture and flavour of a few preserved fruits scattered here and there. Cover the pan with a round of dough, press the edges together to make a seal, and then make a small steam vent at the very center of the gateau. If you have time you can also cut a pretty pattern into the top :) Brush with an egg yolk diluted in water and then bake at 375 degrees F until golden brown (approximately 30 minutes depending on the size of your pan).


Here is one filled with pastry cream and diced preserved plums. I also changed the dough recipe a bit, using a combination of brown and white granulated sugar, increasing the ratio of almond flour to regular flour, and substituting cake flour for all-purpose flour. I wanted the almond taste to be a bit stronger without the artificial floweryness that's characteristic of a liberal use of almond extract...I think it worked out well.

A package.