Monday, August 4, 2014

Gâteau Basque


Per Nana~
I am not fond of fruity fillings, jams, etc. so I decided to make a pastry
 cream filling for my gâteau basque dessert.  Preparing the pastry
 dough was easy. It is very similar to the Breton cake that we
 make at Christmas time, except for the amount of butter used. 
When making pastry cream I always think it is going to be difficult, but 
it really comes together so nicely. Of course I never looked to see the 
amount of pastry cream Dorie's recipe needed, but let me tell you
 that the extra is fantastic with the fruits available now.
  Today I sliced and peeled peaches and topped them with the cream. 
It was delicious. Tomorrow - the blueberries. 
We are loving this wonderful topping. 
Hubby and I really enjoyed the dessert and I have to agree with
 Dorie about storing it in the refrigerator. The cake really stiffens up.
 It is still tasty but very "tough".
Per Tricia~
Lovely.
Just lovely.
I will absolutely be keeping some of this dough in the freezer, in the 
ready to go portions, for the next time I am entertaining. I thought the
 dessert was a great balance of "fancy rustic", if there is such a thing. 
I went with a pie plate since I have no idea where my cake pans are. 
And once the dough was ready it is a piece of cake (pun intended) to 
whip it together. I opted for a raspberry jam this go around but 
will try the classic cherry route next time. I will also try some
 fresh whipped cream on top, for looks and because I think it would 
be delicious against the biscuit type texture of the pastry. 
A winner all around, my taste testers easily understood when 
I relayed Dorie's backstory about the dessert and how popular 
it is in the Pays Basque region....and now in my kitchen too !

5 comments:

  1. Pastry cream sounds delicious (of course, I could eat that all on its own) & Tricia, I like your pie plate adaptation :-)

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  2. I love how you each had your own filling! I will try a jam one next :)

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  3. I know you tripled your pastry cream recipe, Nana, so you'd have "beaucoup de" extra. Pastry cream goes with anything, huh? Tricia, I agree with you. Keep this dough around. It's so good, not icky sweet, and a wonderful treat for morning, noon or night.

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  4. Glad you enjoyed this one, in spite of your doubts. I loved it! I'm interested in trying it with the pastry cream. Nana and Liz seem to be the only ones who tried that version out.

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  5. Tricia, that pie plate is gorgeous!

    Both your versions look wonderful. Nice that you each tried a filling. Nana, I agree with you - pastry cream sounds more daunting than it actually is. It must have been lovely to have around to enjoy with summer fruit, too. Tricia - I think the raspberry version sounds delicious!

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