How to make a traditional gâteau Basque cake

How to make a traditional gâteau Basque cake – a step-by-step guide from a patissserie chef to a seriously scrumptious gateau! The origins of gâteau Basque are lost in the mist of time, and chef Jennifer Pogmore’s version of this classic southern French cake is a winner – delicious any time of the day!

Recipe for gateau basque – 8 portions

Ingredients

Cherry Compote
150g fresh or frozen cherries, pitted and roughly chopped
15g caster or granulated sugar
15g (1 tbsp) lemon juice
The cherry compote can be replaced with 100g of store-bought cherry compote or jam

Gâteau Batter

250g unsalted butter, softened
200g icing (powdered) sugar, sifted
50g (1) egg
20g (1) egg yolk 260g plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
5g baking powder, sifted
5g (1 tsp) vanilla extract/1 vanilla pod
Zest ½ lemon
1 egg for egg wash

Crème Pâtissière

300g whole (full fat) milk
40g (2) egg yolks
60g caster or granulated sugar
20g plain (all-purpose) flour
20g cornstarch (cornflour)
5g (1 tsp) vanilla extract/1 vanilla pod

Syrup

30g caster or granulated sugar
30g water

Method

How to make Cherry Compote

Place the cherries and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stirring occasionally, cook until the cherries have softened and released their juices and there is nearly no liquid left in the pan. Add the lemon juice and cook for a further minute. Pour into a dish or tray, press cling film to the surface of the compote and chill.

How to make Pastry Cream

Whisk the yolks and half of the sugar together in a bowl until they start to lighten in colour. Whisk in the flour and cornstarch.

Bring the milk, the second half of the sugar and the vanilla to a boil, remove from the heat and pour half over the yolks and sugar, whisking together. Pour everything back into your pan, making sure to scrape the bowl clean. Put on a medium heat and whisk constantly until it thickens and bubbles appear. Once you see bubbles whisk on the heat for 30 seconds.

Put in a dish and cover with cling film touching the surface of the pastry cream and chill.

Gâteau Batter Cream together the butter and icing sugar. Add the egg and egg yolk and stir into the mixture. Add vanilla and the lemon zest and stir in.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture and stir together until combined. Transfer just over half of the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 10mm round piping tip.

Assembly

Line a 20cm/8” springform tin with paper on the bottom and the sides. Pipe a spiral of the gâteau batter on the bottom of the pan to form the bottom layer. Pipe another ring of the batter along the outside edge of the cake.

Smooth the base using a palette knife or the back of a spoon, leaving the outside ring of batter. Spread the cherry compote evenly over the base and up to the edge where the ring was piped.

Re-whisk the pastry cream to loosen. Spread the cream over the cherry compote, smoothing out the surface.

Transfer the remaining gâteau batter to the piping bag and pipe another spiral over the surface of the filling. Use a palette knife or the back of a spoon again to smooth the surface (it helps if you wet your utensil so the batter doesn’t stick).

Brush a layer of egg wash over the surface of the gâteau and use a fork to mark lines on the top of the cake.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/355°F (fan oven) or 200°C/390°F for 45 minutes.

If the top of the cake begins to colour too quickly, cover the top part way through cooking with some aluminium foil.

How to make Syrup

Place the sugar and water into a pot and bring to a boil. Once the gâteau is baked, remove from the oven and while still hot, brush the top with the syrup.

Leave the cake to cool down for a minimum of 2 hours before serving, the gâteau should be eaten cold.

The gâteau can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Jennifer Pogmore is a classically trained pastry chef and chocolatier (Le Cordon Bleu) who worked in Parisian pastry boutiques before returning to Le Cordon Bleu as a pastry chef instructor.