Basque Cake
A traditional dessert from the Basque region of France. (An area that boarders France and Spain. It is a specialty that has a pastry cream and jam encased in a cookie almond crust – a cross between a tart and a cake. I love the buttery flaky crust with its distinctive taste of almonds. This cake never fails to impress guests and make any event more festive. If you decide to throw a mother’s day brunch or if you really want to wow someone special, keep this fantastic cake in mind.
Basque Cake
Description
A traditional dessert from the Basque region of France
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup ground almonds almond meal
- 1 cup/227 g. /8 oz. butter chilled
- 1 cup icing sugar powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 egg
For the filling:
For the pastry cream:
- 5 egg yolks
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 tablespoons cherry preserves
Instructions
For the filling:
- In a bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar to fully incorporate. Add the cornstarch and mix well. Set aside.
- Pour the milk in a heavy saucepan, add the vanilla and bring just to a boil.
- Add the egg yolk mixture to the milk and whisk constantly over medium heat.
- Continue whisking until the mixture thickens well. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Place a piece of wax paper on top to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside.
For the dough:
- Sift the flour, ground almonds and baking soda in a bowl. Divide the butter into small pieces and add it to the flour.
- Add the icing sugar, egg, almond extractand vanilla.
- Using your fingertips, knead the mixture until you end up with a dough. Refrigerate for 30 minutes
To assemble:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Place a rack in the center of the oven.
- Butter a 24 cm/9.5 inches round springform pan.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts.
- Place a large sheet of wax paper on a countertop and put one of the dough in the center of the sheet. Cover with another piece of wax paper. Roll the dough about a circle 26 cm/10 inches in diameter.
- Peel off the top paper.
- Use the lower sheet to help you transfer the dough and invert it over the spring form pan. Trim any excess dough.
- Evenly spread the cherry preserves over the dough in the springform pan.
- Spread the pastry cream evenly over the cherry preserves.
- Roll the second piece of dough between two pieces of wax paper to a 24 cm circle. (As you did with the first dough).
- Invert over the springform pan and trim any excess dough, and press the top and edges to seal.
- Use the tines of a fork to make criss-cross marks on top of the dough.
- Bake the cake for about 40-45 minutes, or until the top is golden and brown. Set aside to cool down.
Notes
Note 1: The cake tastes best at room temperature once totally cooled.
Note 2: The pastry cream can be prepared a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator.
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