Halfway between a cake and a pie, the classic Basque cake—known as gâteau Basque—is a staple from southern France and northern Spain, the lands of the Basque people. It has a rich and buttery double-layered crust encasing a delicious pastry cream. Although locals traditionally serve the cake to accompany coffee or tea, the elegant crosshatch pattern on top gives it a rustic charm and makes it plenty elegant for special occasions or as a centerpiece dessert.
A Regional Gem
Although more often associated with Spain, Basque food holds a very prominent role in French cuisine. The Basque region, straddling the southern French and northern Spanish border, is known as a food mecca for the French, and its rich culinary repertoire is as highly regarded as other gastronomic regions such as Provence, Burgundy, or Brittany.Basque cooking is vibrant and creative, but also humble and rooted in rustic, farm cooking traditions. Among its most popular dishes, you’ll find pintxos (Basque-style tapas), poulet Basquaise (braised chicken with bell peppers), piperade (a spicy stew of tomatoes and bell peppers with scrambled eggs), and for dessert, the famous Basque cake.
This bixkotxa—“cake” in Basque—finds its origins back in the mid-19th century.
It’s said that Marianne Hirigoyen, a chef and the owner of a pastry shop in the little town of Cambo-les-Bains in the French Pyrenees, was the first to create the recipe. She introduced the cake to the neighboring Bayonne market and quickly gained fame. She continued to commercialize the Basque cake in her little Cambo pastry shop, while Basque locals also started to adopt the recipe in their homes.
It didn’t take much longer for the cake to make its way to the United States, as the first Basque settlers arriving in Nevada during the Gold Rush carried along the cake’s recipe with them—along with a profound attachment to their native cooking.
Later, in the mid-20th century, the Basque country began to attract more and more tourists, seduced by its large beaches and growing surf culture. And while tourists got to discover the Basque cake, the region’s specialty became a dessert adopted all around France.
Making It at Home
Two traditional versions exist of the Basque cake: one filled with preserved cherries, usually bearing the “lauburu” (Basque cross), and the second one filled with “crème patissière” (French pastry cream) bearing a crosshatched pattern.This recipe is for the latter, constructed from two layers of a buttery crust and filled with a pastry cream. Like most Basque cooking, it’s based on simple ingredients and simple techniques, although it does require a few more extra steps than your average cake. Perhaps more importantly, the quality and freshness of the ingredients that you choose will make a big difference.
The crust for a gâteau Basque is halfway between a cookie and a pie crust: less sweet than a cookie, but sweeter than your average pie crust. It’s buttery and crisp on the outside and slightly chewy in the middle. To achieve this unique texture, make sure that you use high-quality unsalted butter. Adding the salt separately ensures that you don’t oversalt your crust. Use fresh, organic eggs if possible.
Likewise, for a good pastry cream, don’t be afraid to splurge on organic fresh eggs and whole milk, rather than 2 percent or skim. As with most rustic creams and custards, this one is thickened with flour rather than cornstarch. It’s then finished with a splash of rum, for added depth of flavor.
Gâteau Basque
Be careful not to overwork the dough when rolling it out to keep it tender and crumbly. Make sure to chill the pastry dough; this helps with its texture and ease of handling. Let your vanilla custard cool down to room temperature before you pour it over the bottom crust, or it will make your butter sweat, and the crust won’t be as crisp.Once you master this classic version, you can experiment with different fillings, such as black cherry jam.
Serves 8
- 1 cup white sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (slightly softened)
- 2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon rum (white or dark)
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 egg yolk
Prepare the pastry cream. Warm up the milk in a large saucepan over medium heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, all-purpose flour, and eggs. While continuously whisking, slowly pour the warm milk into the egg mixture. Whisk until homogenous and transfer back into the saucepan, over medium heat. Whisk steadily for several minutes until the mixture thickens to a thin custard consistency. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract and rum.
Assemble the cake. Butter and flour a 10-inch tart pan. Roll out the first piece of dough to 3 to 4 millimeter thickness, onto a piece of parchment paper. Flip the rolled dough onto the tart pan and unpeel the parchment paper on top. Don’t worry about the edges that hang over the dish.
Pour the cooled pastry cream into the pan and spread it out. Roll out the second piece of dough onto a piece of parchment paper, flip it over the top of the pastry cream, and unpeel the parchment paper. Press the edges together using your rolling pin to remove the hanging pastry dough. Using your thumb, slightly push the edges inward (just a few millimeters) to ensure that they don’t stick to the pan.
Whisk together the milk and the egg yolk and brush it atop the cake. With a fork, score a crosshatch pattern on top.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden.
Let the cake cool for at least 1 hour before removing from pan and serving.
