Gateaux Basques

[aj5558]

One of the greatest desserts I have eaten was at a small patisserie outside of St Jean de Luz. It was a gateau basque with cherries. Has anyone had a great version of this in california? What about for our next trip to France - any tips as to great locations for this treat? Thanks in advance.

[GG Mora]

One of the greatest desserts I have eaten was at a small patisserie outside of St Jean de Luz.  It was a gateau basque with cherries.  Has anyone had a great version of this in california?  What about for our next trip to France - any tips as to great locations for this treat?  Thanks in advance.

The sole Gateau Basque I sampled in France came from a patisserie (perhaps the patisserie?) in St. Etienne de Baigorry (slightly north and inland from St. Jean de Luz). It had no cherries; it was simply a buttery, eggy, vanilla-perfumed, very dense single layer cake, the inside of which was nearly like pudding for being so moist (the creme patissiere melds with the rest of the cake on baking). I was traveling with a friend who'd grown up in Biarritz, Bayonne and St. Etienne, and he wouldn't leave town without a cake from the local patisserie. We tucked the string-sealed pastry box in the trunk of our rental car and travelled north towards the Dordogne Valley; by the time we reached Armagnac and environs, the whole car was scented with Gateau Basque. We snacked on it over the next day or two. It was so rich, the walnuts and foie gras of the Perigord could barely hold a candle to it. Which is to say, it was utterly delicious.

Edited to add: Welcome® to eGullet, aj5558.

Edited June 16, 2004 by GG Mora (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

There is a third entry into this horserace. A specialty baker in my neighborhood in San Francisco used to make a log cake that was cooked on a spit, successive layers of thin batter brushed on the cooked layers. It was completely cylindrical, not conical. Simply vanilla cake, no marzipan. Of course, the shop is no longer in business.

My husband and I were fortunate to be at an artisanal product show at the Muffetard market in Paris a year or so ago. Among the participants was a baker who was making this confection at his booth. He had a radiant heat baker, similar to what they use to roast chickens in the markets, a horizontal spit that was automatically turned. He brushed a thin batter over the already baked layers from time to time. The finished product was a (perhaps) meter long (or tall), about 8" wide cake that was sliced horizontally into slices that exhibited rings like a cut tree.

As I remember, this market was in the spring, March or April, and is worth looking out for.

[ludja]

One of the greatest desserts I have eaten was at a small patisserie outside of St Jean de Luz. It was a gateau basque with cherries. Has anyone had a great version of this in california? What about for our next trip to France - any tips as to great locations for this treat? Thanks in advance.

Don't know if you live near San Francisco, but one of the city's great chef's has a Basque restaurant (he's from there) called Piperade. All the food I've had there has been very good and he also specializes in desserts. I think I must have had the Gateaux Basque there but I don't have a specific memory (this is not an idictment, except perhaps for my memory--and I have just good ones from eating there....)

piperade

[Swisskaese]

Baumkuchen cannot be made at home. It takes a very special machine and a very patient baker to make this cake.

I used to buy slices of this cake a bakery in Schwabish Hall and was fascinated by how they made it. They had their oven at the front of the bakery and you could watch them make the cake.

[DiH]

In her book The Secrets of Baking, Sherry Yard includes her recipe (and beautiful photograph) for Brown Butter Baumkuchen. Although Martha S. would indeed instruct on how to install a spit for the occasion, Ms. Yard's version uses "a standard cake pan in a standard oven".

In reading through the directions, this one's probably not a good choice for tossing together twenty minutes before the guests arrive... this cake requires an extremely patient baker with lots of time on their hands.

[JanKK]

In her book The Secrets of Baking, Sherry Yard includes her recipe (and beautiful photograph) for Brown Butter Baumkuchen. Although Martha S. would indeed instruct on how to install a spit for the occasion, Ms. Yard's version uses "a standard cake pan in a standard oven".

In reading through the directions, this one's probably not a good choice for tossing together twenty minutes before the guests arrive... this cake requires an extremely patient baker with lots of time on their hands.

Well, I have never had a 'real' baumkuchen before, but I did try making the one from the Yard book because it just looked fascinating. It really isn't difficult, it's just that for the 30-40 minutes you would normally bake a cake, you need to be there. It tasted great. The only problem I had was that by the time I was done adding layers and baking, the bottom of it had burnt to a crisp.

In fact ...that's how I happened to stumble across this forum a couple months ago -- while doing an Internet search to see if anyone else reported a similar problem. ;)

Haven't tried it again .....but would like to. Maybe putting a sheet pan or an insulated pan under the round pan would help? Anyone have any suggestions?