Cherry Gâteau Basque Food

BASQUE CAKE WITH CHERRY PRESERVES

Steps:

• Place an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch cake pan or spring-form pan. In a mixer with a whip attachment, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.
• Sift the cake flour, salt, and baking powder together and use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into this butter mixture until a soft dough forms and no white streaks of flour remain. Spread half the batter evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Stir the almond extract into the cherry preserves. Spoon the cherry preserves over the batter, spreading it within 2 inches of the border.
• Drop the remaining batter by large spoonfuls or pipe it with a plain tip over the preserves. Spread the batter carefully over the jam to the edge of the pan. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, if using.
• Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a bamboo skewer inserted into the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack. Unmold the cake and dust with confectioners' sugar.

GATEAU BASQUE

Steps:

• Make the pastry cream: Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk together milk and egg yolks in a glass measuring cup. Add milk mixture to the saucepan, along with butter. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer. Continue to cook until it comes to a boil. Let boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and add vanilla and brandy.
• Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Just before using, whisk until smooth.
• Make the cake: Combine cherries and brandy in a small bowl; let soak 1 hour.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk pate brisee to a 13-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Fit into a 9-inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom leaving edges to overhang. Freeze 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place pastry cream in a large bowl. Stir with a rubber spatula to loosen. Pour into chilled crust, spreading evenly with an offset spatula. Drain cherries and scatter evenly over pastry cream.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out remaining disk of pate brisee to a 13-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Score surface in a diamond pattern with the edge of a ruler. Lightly brush overhanging edge with egg and top with scored pastry. Press to seal and trim dough along edge of tart pan. Lightly brush top with egg wash. Place tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 20 minutes on a wire rack. Remove tart ring and cool completely on rack. Serve at room temperature.

CHERRY GâTEAU BASQUE

Steps:

• To make the dough, in a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process the flour, almonds, baking powder, salt, and sugar until the almonds are ground to a powder. Add the butter and process until the butter is in tiny pieces.
• Add the egg, egg yolk, and the vanilla and almond extracts and pulse until the dough comes together. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, one slightly larger than the other, form each into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch (23-cm) springform pan, dust it with flour, and tap out any excess.
• To make the filling, in a small bowl, mix the cherry jam, rum, brandy, and anise-flavored liqueur. Set aside.
• Dust the larger disk of dough on both sides with flour and roll it out to a 10-inch (25-cm) circle between 2 sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap. Peel off the top sheet of plastic and invert the dough into the prepared pan. Peel off the sheet of plastic that is now on top and press the dough gently into the bottom of the pan and partially up the sides. Don't worry if the dough tears; it's very forgiving-just patch and press together. Spread the filling over the dough, leaving a 1-inch (3-cm) border.
• Roll out the second piece of dough between 2 sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap. Peel off the top sheet of plastic and invert the dough over the filling. Peel off the sheet of plastic that's now on top. Gently press the edges together to enclose the filling.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and milk and brush it liberally over the top. Rake the tines of a fork 5 or 6 times over the surface in two diagonally opposing directions to create a crosshatch design.
• Bake the cake until the top is deep golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then run a knife around the sides to loosen it from the pan. Release the sides of the springform pan and let cool completely. Cut into wedges and serve.
• Storage
• Gâteau Basque is actually better the second day, after the flavors have had a chance to meld. Wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, it'll keep for about 1 week at room temperature.
• Variation
• A prune filling for gâteau Basque isn't exactly traditional, but since the nearby Gascon region is famous for its prunes, I'll often make a filling with them: Quarter 8 ounces (225 g) of pitted prunes; heat them in a small saucepan with 3 tablespoons (45 ml) brandy, 1 tablespoon rum, 1 tablespoon anise-flavored liqueur, 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar, and 1/4 cup (60 ml) water. When the liquid comes to a boil, cover, and remove from the heat. Once cool, process the mixture in a food processor fitted with the metal blade until chunky and use in place of the cherry jam.
• tip
• Use a top-quality sour cherry jam. The less-expensive ones are primarily sugar and are too runny-you want a filling that's plump with flavorful cherries. If you can't find sour cherry jam, add a squirt of lemon juice to regular cherry jam.

GATEAU BASQUE (FRENCH CUSTARD OR JAM TART)

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and keep at hand.
• Working in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until smooth. Add the egg and beat another 2 minutes or so, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The mixture may look curdled, but that's OK. Add vanilla and mix for about a minute more. Then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in two or three additions, mixing only until they're fully incorporated into the dough.
• Place a large sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper on your work surface and put half of the very soft and sticky dough in the center of the sheet. Cover with another piece of plastic or wax paper, then roll the dough into a circle just a little larger than 8 inches in diameter. As you're rolling, turn the dough over and lift the plastic or paper frequently, so that you don't roll it into the dough and form creases. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
• Put the dough on a cutting board or baking sheet and refrigerate it for about 3 hours or for up to 3 days.
• When you're ready to assemble and bake the gateau, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F Generously butter a 2-inch high, 8-inch round cake pan.
• Remove the layers from the refrigerator and let them rest on the counter for a couple of minutes before peeling away the plastic or paper. Fit one layer into the pan. If it breaks, just press the pieces together. If there's a little extra dough running up the sides of the pan, you can either fold it over the bottom layer or cut it so that it's even. Spoon some of the jam or pastry cream onto the dough, starting in the center of the cake and leaving one inch of dough bare around the border. Add more filling if you don't think it will squish out the sides when you press down on it with the top layer of dough. (I find that 3/4 cup is usually just the right amount, but if you're using a very thick jam, you might want a bit more.).
• Moisten the bare ring of dough with a little water and then top with the second piece of dough, pressing down around the edges to seal it. If you'd like, you can work your finger between the top dough and the edge of the pan, so that you tuck the dough under a little. Because of the softness of the dough and the baking powder, even if you only press the layers together very lightly, they'll fuse as they bake. And, no matter how well you press them together, it seems inevitable that a little of the filling will escape.
• Brush the top of the dough with the egg glaze and use the tips of the tines of a fork to etch a cross-hatch pattern across the top.
• Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for 5 minutes before carefully running a blunt knife around the edges of the cake. Turn the cake over onto a cooling rack and then quickly and carefully invert it onto another rack so that it can cool to room temperature right side up.

GâTEAU BASQUE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Working with a mixer (use a paddle attachment if you have one), beat together the butter and both sugars on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, and beat for another 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla; the mixture should be smooth. Add the flour mixture all at once, then pulse the mixer to begin incorporating it. Mix on low until blended.
• Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather into a ball, then divide in half.
• Shape each piece into a disk - the dough will be sticky - and put each between sheets of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece into a round just a smidge wider than 8 inches. Keeping the dough sandwiched between the parchment, refrigerate for at least 3 hours (or for up to 3 days).
• When you're ready to bake, center a rack in the oven, and heat to 350 degrees. Generously butter an 8-inch-by-2-inch round cake pan. Remove the dough from the fridge, and leave on the counter until pliable, about 10 minutes. Peel away the paper.
• Fit one round into the pan; if it breaks, just press the pieces together. Either fold the extra dough over and onto the base or trim it; don't fuss about precision here. Spread about 3/4 cup of the jam over the base, leaving a 1-inch border bare and adding more jam, if needed.
• Top with the second piece of dough, lightly pressing down around the edges and, if you can, tucking the dough under a bit. Again, it doesn't have to be perfect; the dough is soft, and as if by magic, the layers fuse in the oven.
• Brush the top with the egg wash, and use the tines of a fork to etch a crosshatch pattern.
• Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Transfer to a rack, and let rest for 5 minutes, then carefully run a table knife around the edge of the cake. Unmold onto the rack, and then quickly and carefully turn the cake over onto another rack, crosshatch side up, so that it can cool to room temperature. Wrapped well, the cake will keep for 2 days at room temperature.