Gateau Basque French Pastry Cream Version Recipes

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.

GATEAU BASQUE

Steps:

• Cream butter, gradually adding sugar. Sift flour and baking powder. Beat egg, egg yolks and almond flavoring. Add lemon rind. Add eggs alternately with the flour ot the cream mixture. Mix well. Place this dough in the fridge in an airtight container overnight.
• Make the pudding according to directions on package. Stir in almond flavoring and then cool.
• Roll out about 5/8 of the gateau dough the same as you would a thick pie crust. Press it into an 8 inch pie pan and trim the edges. Pour the cooled pudding into the bottom crust. Make a thick top crust with the balance of the gateau dough. Trim edges and then seal them with the egg wash (the mixed egg and water) The pudding expands during the baking process and it will spill over if the edges are not well sealed. Brush on egg wash over the top of the gateau as well. Decorate the top of the gateau by carefully making diamond designs with a fork.
• Bake gateau in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 40 min or until it becomes a golden brown. Cool.

GâTEAU BASQUE WITH ARMAGNAC PRUNES

Steps:

• Combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer running at low, add the butter. When the butter has been incorporated, add the egg, 2 egg yolks, the lemon zest, and the Pernod. Mix at low speed until the dough just comes together. Divide the dough into two-thirds and one-third portions. Wrap each portion in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
• Lightly butter a 9-inch ring mold (1 inch high) and set it on a baking sheet.
• Roll out the larger piece of dough on a lightly floured board into an 11-inch circle, 1/3 inch thick. (The dough may be a little hard to work with. Don't worry if you have to patch it together-when it bakes, the mistakes will disappear.) Roll the dough around the rolling pin, and then unroll over the ring and gently tuck the dough into the corners, letting the excess fall over the edges. Fill the shell with the cooled Basque pastry cream. Roll out the remaining piece of dough into a circle slightly larger than the pan. Place the dough over the pastry cream. Roll the rolling pin over the top of the ring to seal the bottom and top layers of dough together. Chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• Whisk the remaining egg yolk with a little water, and brush the gâteau with this egg wash. Score the top of the cake with paring knife in a crisscross or harlequin pattern.
• Bake about 35 minutes, until golden brown.
• Whip the cream and crème fraîche until it holds soft peaks.
• Cut six wedges from the gâteau. Spoon some Armagnac prunes and their syrup over each piece, and finish with a dollop of whipped cream.
• In a medium heavy-bottomed pot, bring the milk to a boil, and then turn off the heat. Whisk the egg yolks together in a medium bowl, and then whisk in the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens and is a pale yellow color. Whisk in the hot milk a few tablespoons at a time, progressing to a slow steady stream. Return the mixture to the stove, and cook over medium heat, whisking until thickened.
• Strain into a baking dish or bowl, and place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the custard to keep it from forming a skin. Poke a few holes in the plastic to let the heat escape. Cool it in the refrigerator. When the pastry cream has cooled, stir in the rum, Armagnac, orange-flower water, and almond extract.
• Place the prunes in a bowl and pour the hot tea over them. Cover and steep 1 hour. Strain the prunes, reserving 1/4 cup tea. Place the tea and sugar in a small sauce pot, bring to a boil, and cook 2 minutes. Pour the syrup over the prunes. Add the Armagnac to the pot, bring it just to a boil, and pour it over the prunes. Cover and steep at least 30 minutes. Cool the prunes and store them in the refrigerator.
• The pastry dough must be made at least 2 hours before assembling the gâteau. It's a good idea to make the pastry cream in advance as well, as it must be chilled before using.

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.