My Bask in Basque!

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Buttery Gateau Basque (French Custard Tart)

I’m always very excited to learn something new.

I think I am pretty well versed when it relates to food! But the other night whilst watching an Australian Vietnamese chef on his French cooking show (!) I learnt about a cake that I had never heard of before: Basque Cake. Being a sweet tooth from way back, I thought I knew about every cake that existed, but this was a revelation to me! As both my husband and I were thinking “Oh my God, that looks goooood” , he was thinking “We have to go to France”, and I was thinking “How am I going to Paleo-fy that?!”

Upon investigation, I found out that there are variations of this traditional Gâteau Basque. Some renditions consist of a short-crust pastry and some consist of a sponge base. Some have cherries or raisins in them, some don’t. The common feature is that they are filled with a rich creme patissiere and ss with alot of French desserts, there is a hint of rum.

The particular cake that we saw on television was a short-crust version with no fruit. As my husband adores anything that has pastry wrapped around it, it was this version that I chose to replicate. I found that roasting the almonds before soaking them adds a gorgeous richness to the flavour of the almond milk, but I do that because I am a complete food nerd. I wouldn’t expect you to do that, or even make the almond milk, but home-made is much better.

You could substitute this for any nut milk but don’t use anything that has sunflower seeds in it as it will make the custard go GREEN!! Sunflower seeds contain chlorogenic acid which is in most plants and is the same chemical that makes potatoes go green. When the chlorogenic acid is heated, it turns the seeds green! It is perfectly fine to eat but will just give a grassy hue!

 

Butter Pastry

120g white rice

100g buckwheat

100g blanched almonds

100g tapioca flour

1 teas xantham gum

pinch salt

150g coconut sugar (I used 110g Natvia, 40g coconut sugar)

1/4 teas vanilla powder

200g cold butter or ghee

1 egg white

 

Mill the rice on SP 9 for 1 minute. Add the buckwheat and sugar and mill for another minute. Add the almonds and mill for another 20 seconds.

 

Add the tapioca, xantham, salt & vanilla and mix  for 10 seconds, SP 7. Add the butter and pulse until crumbs form then add the egg white and mix on SP 4 until it just comes together as a dough. It will be very soft and a little sticky.

 

Press into a pad and wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate while you make the custard. You don’t have to wash the bowl for this.

 

Almond Cream Patissiere

100g raw almonds, soaked for 1 hour

750 water  – or use 600g ready-made almond milk

2 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

90g coconut sugar (I used Natvia)

20g honey

pinch salt

60g maize cornflour

1/2 teas vanilla powder (or seeds of one pod, scraped)

40g rum (or amaretto liqueur)

50g butter

1 egg, extra

120g sour cherries, pitted and patted dry with paper towel

 

If making the almond milk: Mill the almonds with a pinch of salt on SP 9 for 10 seconds. Add 300g water and mill for 1 minute at SP 9. Add the remaining water and blend on SP 7 for another minute.  Drain through a nut bag and return 600g of almond milk to the TM bowl. 

 

Add the remaining ingredients to the TM, except for the additional egg & butter, and cook on SP 3.5 at 100°C for 10 minutes. Pour into a shallow tray and cool in the fridge until cold. When cold, return mix to the bowl with the additional egg & butter and mix on SP 6 for 10 seconds. Return to the fridge while you prepare the pastry shell.

 

Divide the dough in half*, one being slightly larger than the other and roll out to about 5 – 6mm thick. Line a 22cm or 24cm pan with the pastry. It is a very delicate pastry so don’t be alarmed if it breaks – just press into shape. Dot the cherries, evenly over the base and cover with custard. Depending on what size pan you use, there may be some custard left over. Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the tart, sealing the edges by pressing together.

 

Prick with a fork and brush with a little leftover egg-white or almond milk. Bake at 180°C for 50 – 60 minutes. I like to place the tart on the top shelf for 30 minutes and then to the bottom shelf to crisp the pastry.

 

 * Keep the remaining pastry in the fridge until ready to use.

 

ENJOY