Gâteau basque
A cake from the French Basque country whose construction is simple and whose execution is treacherous: a thick pastry cream sealed between two layers of very soft dough. The dough carries a lot of butter and some baking powder, so it sits somewhere between shortcrust and cookie — which means it has to be patted out with the fingers or rolled between sheets of film, since handled the usual way it tears. In exchange it bakes soft like a biscuit rather than crisp like a tart.
Your own work in that: 20 min.
- Dough 20 min
- Chilling 90 min
- Cream 25 min
- Assembly 20 min
- Baking 45 min
- Cooling 120 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneCream the butter and sugar, add eggs
Cream the soft butter with the sugar, salt and lemon zest for 4 minutes, beat in the eggs one at a time, then fold in both flours with the baking powder. The dough will be very soft and sticky — as it should be; this is not ordinary shortcrust.
Ingredients: 350 g plain flour · 200 g butter · 180 g sugar · 2 pcs eggs · 60 g ground almonds · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 pcs lemon · ½ tsp salt
Soft and sticky — not ordinary shortcrust.Divide and chill an hour and a half
Divide into two pieces, one slightly larger, flatten into discs between sheets of film and chill 90 minutes. Unchilled, this dough is impossible to shape — it melts under your fingers.
Ingredients: 350 g plain flour · 200 g butter · 180 g sugar · 2 pcs eggs · 60 g ground almonds · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 pcs lemon · ½ tsp salt
Cook a thick vanilla cream
Ideally while the dough chills: bring the milk to the boil with the vanilla, temper the yolks beaten with the sugar and cornflour, return to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens, then 3 minutes more. Remove the pod, stir in the butter and rum off the heat and cool completely under film touching the surface. Warm cream would dissolve the dough from inside.
Ingredients: 400 ml milk · 4 pcs egg yolks · 90 g sugar · 40 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla · 2 tbsp rum · 30 g butter
Press the larger piece into the tin
Line the base of a 24 cm tin with paper. Press the larger disc with your fingers over the base and sides of the tin, in an even layer about 7 mm thick. With fingers, not a pin — dough this soft will not transfer in one piece, and any thin patches are easily repaired in the tin.
Ingredients: 350 g plain flour · 200 g butter · 180 g sugar · 2 pcs eggs · 60 g ground almonds · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 pcs lemon · ½ tsp salt
Pipe the cream, leaving a clear border
Pipe the cream in a spiral, leaving 2 cm clear at the edge. If using jam, spread it thinly under the cream. The clear border is essential — without it the two layers of dough cannot seal and the cream escapes.
Ingredients: 400 ml milk · 4 pcs egg yolks · 90 g sugar · 40 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla · 2 tbsp rum · 30 g butter
A spiral, 2 cm from the edge — or the cream escapes.Cover with the second disc and seal
Roll the smaller disc between two sheets of film, slide it on top and press the edges together with your fingers, sealing both layers. The film is the only way to move dough this soft in one piece.
Ingredients: 350 g plain flour · 200 g butter · 180 g sugar · 2 pcs eggs · 60 g ground almonds · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 pcs lemon · ½ tsp salt
Glaze and score the pattern
Heat the oven to 180°C. Brush the top with beaten egg and score a lattice with a fork or the Basque lauburu cross with the tip of a knife, pressing shallowly so you do not break through to the cream. The pattern is above all a traditional decoration, but the shallow grooves also help the top rise evenly instead of doming.
Ingredients: 1 pcs egg · 150 g cherry jam
The cuts release steam — without them the top domes.Bake 45 minutes and cool completely
Bake 45 minutes at 180°C, until deep golden. Cool completely in the tin — the cream inside a hot cake is liquid and runs out at the first cut. It slices only after several hours.
Ingredients: 1 pcs egg · 150 g cherry jam
Before you start
Cream or cherries
The Basque country knows two classic versions: with vanilla cream and with black cherry jam, associated with the village of Itxassou. Using both goes beyond tradition, but it works well — jam beneath the cream gives a fruity counterpoint.
Moving the dough is the hard part
The top disc rolled between film is transferred by peeling off the upper sheet, inverting the dough onto the cake and only then removing the second. Without that trick, soft dough tears at every attempt.
Better the next day
Gâteau basque improves overnight — the dough absorbs moisture from the cream and softens, and the flavours merge. Because the filling is a milk and egg-yolk cream, once cooled keep it covered in the fridge, for up to 3 days. Take it out 30–60 minutes before serving so the butter softens and the cake regains its tenderness.
