If you were lucky enough to make jam with last summer’s abundance of ripe cherries, here is a terrific new recipe from Bret’s Table for Gâteau Basque – Almond Cake with Cherry Jam. Storebought jam will do, but there is nothing like tasting a little bit of summer in early June.
There are many versions of this cake from the Basque region of France. This is a delightful version from Bret’s Table that incorporates some finely ground almond flour. If you happen to have some brandied cherries at hand, add a few to balance the sweetness of the jam.
1 ½ cups (6 ¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup (1 ¾ ounces) ground almond flour or 1 ¾ ounces sliced blanched almonds, processed to powder
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (7 ounces) organic cane sugar or granulated sugar
10 tablespoons (5 ounces) PastureLand unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon pure almond extract
¾ – 1 cup (6 – 8 ounces) thick cherry jam
1/3 cup of brandied sour cherries, cut in half (optional)
1 large egg, beaten with a little water for, glazing the cake
Crème Fraîche or Vanilla Ice Cream (optional)
Whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until smooth. Add the egg and beat another 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the extracts and mix for about a minute more. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in two or three additions, mixing only until they’re fully incorporated.
Divide the dough in half and place each half between large pieces of plastic wrap. Roll each half of the dough to a thickness of about a ¼-inch.
Place the doughs on a baking sheet and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours or for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to assemble and bake the gâteau, center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350ºF. Generously butter a 8 × 2-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.
Remove one of the pieces of dough from the refrigerator. Cut out a round of dough 8 1/2 –inches in diameter. Fit the round in the bottom and up the sides of the pan by ½-inch. If it breaks, just press the piece together. Spoon the jam onto the dough, starting in the center of and leaving 1/2 -inch of dough bare around the border. Using a pastry brush, moisten the bare ring of dough with a little water.
Remove the second piece of dough from the refrigerator and cut out 8-inch round of dough. Set this piece on top of the jam filled piece. Gently slide an off-set spatula down against the outside of the dough and push the ½-inch piece over on top of the piece that was just placed on top of the jam. The goal is to seal the top dough to the bottom one.
Brush the top of the dough with the egg glaze and use the tips of the tines of a fork to etch a cross-hatch pattern across the top.
Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for 5 minutes before carefully running a blunt knife around the edges of the cake. Turn the cake over onto a cooling rack and then quickly and carefully invert it onto another rack so that it can cool to room temperature right side up.
The cake is delicious eaten plan or you can gild the lily with a dollop of crème frâiche or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
