Mini Gateaux Breton Recipes

GATEAU BRETON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
• Mix 1 teaspoon egg yolk and water in a small bowl. Set aside for glazing the cake.
• Combine remaining egg yolks, flour, butter, sugar, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Mix with an electric mixer until dough is stiff and sticky, similar to cookie dough. Knead dough a little bit to bring it together.
• Press dough into the prepared pan with your hands. Brush glaze on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking until golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Cool for 10 minutes. Slice cake crosswise.

MINI GATEAUX BRETON

Steps:

• Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F/160 degrees C.
• Spread the almonds evenly on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, or until pale gold. Stir once or twice to ensure even toasting and avoid overbrowning. Cool completely.
• In a food processor, process the almonds with 2 tablespoons/ 25 grams of the sugar and the salt until fairly fine but not powder-fine. Alternatively, use a nut grater to grate the almonds finely, and then combine with the 2 tablespoons sugar and the salt.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix together the remaining sugar and the butter on low speed for about 1 minute, or until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• On low speed, beat in the egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating for about 20 seconds between each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the almond mixture, liquor or water, and vanilla and mix on low speed until the almond mixture is moistened. Beat for about 20 seconds until evenly incorporated.
• Add the flour in 4 parts, turning off the mixer between additions, and beating on the lowest speed for about 15 seconds between each addition. Detach the beater and, with a silicone spatula, finish mixing any flour that may remain, reaching to the bottom of the bowl.
• Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes, or until firm.
• Scoop out rounded teaspoons of the dough (10 grams). Roll each piece of dough between the floured palms of your hands into a 1-inch ball and set it into a brioche pan. (Be sure to flour your hands or the gateaux will stick to the molds when baked.) Press the dough balls into the pans. They will come almost to the top of each pan. If the dough is sticky, refrigerate the dough until firmer. Use your pinky finger to press the dough into the fluted edges. Set the dough-lined brioche pans at least 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet.
• Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until deep golden brown. (An instant-read thermometer should read about 205 degrees F/96 degrees C.)
• Set the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Use the needle to slip between one of the edges of the pan and the gateaux to loosen and invert them onto another wire rack. Cool completely. The cookies keep, airtight, at room temperature, for 5 days; refrigerated, 10 days; frozen, 3 months.

GATEAU BRETON

Steps:

• Place the flour on the counter and make a well. Cut up the butter and place the sifted sugars, butter, yolks, rum, and vanilla powder in the well. Work the well together.
• Work in the flour then "fraisage" the dough, pushing it away from you on the counter with the heel of your hand. This helps schmear the butter into thin layers to make the cake flakey in the end. Chill the dough 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 360 degrees F.
• Butter an 8-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment and butter the paper. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to an 8-inch disk about 1/2-inch thick. Flip it over onto your hand and brush off the excess flour then place it in the pan. Brush the top with egg wash; then egg wash it again to get a thicker coating. Using a knife, decorate it with the traditional cross-hatching, or for restaurant presentation you carve a map of Brittany on the surface and do some angled lines all around the edge. Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan and serve in wedges.
• I kept this recipe in the original metric measurements I was taught it in to show the relationship between the ingredients. Quatre-Quarts (meaning "four quarters") is a French cake shaped like a rectangle and all the ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, and eggs-oooo that would make a good book title, don't you think?) are of equal weights. My teacher, Chef Claude at La Varenne said you weigh the eggs and then match that measurement with the other ingredients.
• If you look this up in the dictionary, Quarte-quarts translates to pound cake, the American version of a pound of 4 equal ingredients, but with air whipped in for leavening. This cake is dense and buttery with a big crumb, more like a shortbread than a cake.
• You can do the mixing in a food processor but this recipe is the traditional way.

GâTEAU BRETON

Steps:

• In a small pot over medium-high heat, combine prunes, rum and 2 tablespoons water. (Use 1 cup/240 milliliters water if using dried apricots.) Cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed (about 5 minutes for prunes, 10 to 15 for apricots). Use a fork to mash into a thick purée. Cover and chill.
• In a food processor, pulse to combine flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add 5 egg yolks and pulse until mixture comes together as a dough. Divide in half, form into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 2 hours or until firm.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap, roll one of the dough halves into an 8-inch circle. Transfer dough to prepared cake pan, pressing into edges. Spread prune or apricot purée across dough, leaving 3/4 inch border around outside edge. Roll second piece of dough into an 8-inch circle, transfer to cake pan, press around outside edge to stick the pieces together and seal in fruit purée.
• In a small bowl, combine remaining egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water and beat lightly. Brush over top of cake, then use a fork to score a crisscross pattern into the dough. Bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes (cover with foil if cake is browning too quickly). Cool in pan 15 minutes. Flip onto a plate, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

CLASSIC BRETON BUTTER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom.
• Sift both flours, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed until doubled in volume and pale yellow, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the butter in four parts, beating until completely combined after each, 1 to 2 minutes total. With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture, beating until combined.
• Transfer batter to prepared pan; with a small offset spatula, spread batter and smooth top. (If necessary, chill batter for 10 minutes before smoothing.) Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Remove pan from refrigerator. Brush top with beaten egg, and mark a crosshatch pattern with a knife. Brush again with egg. Bake until cake is deep golden brown and edges pull away from sides of pan, 40 to 45 minutes. Cover with foil if browning too quickly.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Remove cake from pan, and slice while still warm.