Geraldine Martins
To celebrate the release of his latest cookbook, Ritz’s Pastry Chef François Perret shared his recipe for Basque Chocolate Cake with us.
A leading figure in the gastronomy of its region of origin, the Basque cake was born in the 19th century. A creation that we, like the famous Tatin, owe to two sisters, Elizabeth and Anna Dibar, who are said to have inherited this recipe from their grandmother. which contain Aragon almond cream.Variations have emerged over the years, such as the one pictured in 1920 Itxassou cherry or even caramel decorated version In his latest work, which gives pride of place to the simplicity of the pastry, called Homemade pastries and published by Michel Lafon, Pastry Chef of the Ritz Paris, presents the chocolate version.
” data-script=”https://static.lefigaro.fr/widget-video/short-ttl/video/index.js” >
Francois Perre’s Basque Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
For the dough
- 200 g of refined butter
- 200 g of T55 flour
- 200 g of brown beet sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 5 g of yeast
- 1 egg yolk (for gilding)
For the chocolate pastry cream
- 400 g whole milk
- 40 g of egg yolk
- 30 g of brown beet sugar
- 25 g of flour
- 230 g of 70% dark chocolate
The steps
Prepare the pasta
Prepare softened butter, add sugar, then eggs and yolks. Add sifted flour and yeast. Divide the dough into two parts, spread the two pieces of dough between two sheets of baking paper, one should be 220 mm in diameter, the other 260 mm. Put them in the refrigerator.
We prepare the chocolate pastry cream
Heat the milk. Whiten the yolks with sugar, add the flour. Melt the chocolate. Pour some of the milk over the egg mixture. Mix and pour everything back into the pot. Bring to a boil, then cook for 3 minutes, add the chocolate. Mix well. Leave to cool. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a 260mm pastry with at least a 2cm edge in a 220mm diameter buttered circle.
Assemble the cake
Spread the chocolate cream on the base of this pastry. Moisten the edges of the dough, then cover with a second 220 mm circle. Flatten the top in hot water with a spatula.Bring the top with egg yolk, let dry, brown again.
Ending
Make a grid with the back of a knife.Bake at 200°C, then reduce to 180°C and cook for about 45 minutes.
Source: Le Figaro
