Gateau Breton (Brittany Butter Cake)
Why I Love This Recipe
This is a Nigella Lawson recipe from her book 'How to be a Domestic Goddess' (gotta love that title...)
It's my absolute favourite cake to make for guests and I always recieve rave reviews for it - and it's such a doddle to make!!
Nigella suggests serving it after a dnner/supper party with coffee and chocolates, which I think is a super idea :)
Ingredients You'll Need
25cm (9-10 in) cake tin (ideally spring form)
225g (approx 2 and 1/4 cups) plain flour, sieved
250g (approx 2 and 1/2 cups) caster sugar
250g (approx 2 and 1/2 cups) unsalted butter
6 large egg yolks
A glaze of a teaspoon of egg yolk from your 6, and a tablespoon of water (or milk)
Directions
Preheat oven to 190C (375f).
If you have a mixer, add the sieved flour, sugar, butter and eggs and mix until combined.
If (like me) you have no mixer, you get to be messy! Make a mound of the sieved flour on a worktop, make a well in it and add the sugar, butter and eggs. Knead to mix.
Scoop this dough into the tin and smooth the top with a floured hand. Expect the dough to be very sticky. Brush the gateau with the glaze and mark a lattice design on top.
Bake for 15 mins, then turn the oven down to 180C (350f) and give it another 25 minutes or so until it's golden on top and firm to the touch. Let cool completely before unmoulding / turning out.
I find that these instructions result in a slightly-more-than-golden cake in my oven, but I keep to her timings because I like the crispy edges
Also, this is supposed to serve 8-10, but I think that's madness. It serves 6, on a really good day.