Friday, March 19, 2010

Pine Nut Gateau Breton

From gateau breton
Have you ever craved something moist, buttery, not too sweet, something with a distinct texture and something that feels good to bite into? Then you have come to the right place. This Gateau Breton is the answer to your craving. This version uses toasted pine nuts which adds another rich discernable layer of flavour to this dessert. It pairs perfectly with a coffee at the end of a meal. PS it is also makes a great breakfast :) This recipe is adapted from Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum. (This book should be in your kitchen.)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
3/4 cup berry sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 large egg yolks
1.5 tbsp rum
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups + 3 tbsp flour sifted before measuring
1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash

What to do:
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
  2. Grease and flour a 9 inch spring form pan (mine was 3 inch high but Rose says you can also use a tart pan or 9 x 2 cake pan)
  3. |In food processer, pulse the pine nuts, salt and 1/4 cup of the sugar until nuts are finely chopped.
  4. Beat the remaining sugar and butter in stand mixer for 1 minute.
  5. Add the yolks one at a time. Mix each for 20-30 seconds.
  6. Add the nut mixture, rum, vanilla and beat until smooth.
  7. Add the flour in 4 additions. Beat until just incorporated at each addition (15 seconds or so).
  8. Make sure the all the flour is incorporated (including the bits that get stuck at the bottom of the bowl).
  9. Transfer batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
  10. Brush top of cake with beaten egg.
  11. Using fork or tip of knife draw cross hatchlines across cake.
  12. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a deep golden brown.
  13. Cool for 10 minutes before removing sides of pan or inverting.
  14. Cool completely.
From gateau breton

7 comments:

  1. Sounds delicious. I wonder if walnuts would work in place of pine nuts?

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  2. I am particularly impressed by this! It is fancy!

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  3. this looks wonderful, but I'm curious: what is berry sugar?

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  4. It seems fancy but is really so easy and simple!! And everyone who tried it seemed to really enjoy it.

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  5. Sounds delicious! I might try walnuts instead of pine nuts too!

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  6. Justine - Thanks for your comment! Seems "berry sugar" is a British Columbia thing! Elsewhere it is called castor sugar or superfine sugar -the sugar’s crystal size is the finest of all the types of granulated white sugar. Also, it is wonderful for delicately textured cakes, sprinkly on fruits and mixed into cold drinks because it dissolves easily.

    You can substitute regular white sugar.

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  7. Good Morning. I thought you might like to know that I posted a link to your blog on my Gateau Breton post. Feel free to stop by for a visit.

    http://butteryum.blogspot.com/2010/05/gateau-breton-french-pound-cake.html

    :)
    ButterYum

    ReplyDelete