# Gateau Breton



## cookie mama (Mar 6, 2005)

I am trying to make a Gateau Breton cake. The first attempt with this dough was to use the 8" cake pan as indicated and I had smoke all over the place, as the butter ran over the oven. My next attempt to salvage the dough was to use my 10" spring form pan, as it is deeper and I thought I could bake it over a cookie tin to catch the seepage from the spring form. It never really baked. I am now using muffin tins to try "again" to salvage the dough. 
Do cake pans come any deeper than 2" ? I reviewed the recipe and find that I did everything I was supposed to do. The only thing I did was substitute vanilla powder with a tsp of vanilla liquid and omitted the teas of water. I am baffled as to how I went wrong. 
The recipe indicated 360 degrees and that is what I used. Was this a possible typo instead of 350? 

Thanks


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

Cookie mama,

I moved your post to the general threads in hopes that you would find a wider audience.

Yes, pans come in deeper than 2 inches. 3 and specialty forms can be even deeper.

What is your formula?

I don't feel 10 degrees is going to cause such a problesm

Post your recipe and we can help.


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## cookie mama (Mar 6, 2005)

1 pound all-purpose fl
1 pound sugar( 1/2 lb powdered sugar and 1/2 lb granulated sugar)sifted
1 pound salted butter
10 egg yolks
1 TB dark rum
1 teas vanilla powder
1 egg ( for egg wash)
1 teas water ( opps! this was supposed to be for the egg wash)

Place flour on the counter and make a well. Cut up butter and place the sifted sugars, butter, yolks, rum and vanilla powder in the well. Work the well together. This meant to mix everything except the flour.

***(oops! I had a runny mess and ended up mixing everything together including the flour all at the same time.)

Work in the flour then "fraisage" the dough, pushing it away from you on the counter with the heal of your hand. This helps schmear the butter into thin layers to make the cake flakey in the end. Chill for 30 minutes.

Roll into an 8" circle on lightly floured surface. Place into a buttered 8" cake pan lined with parchment and buttered again. 
Cross hatch top with knife and egg wash, and repeat another egg wash. BAke for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.


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## qahtan (Dec 7, 2003)

This recipe comes from Cape Breton, 

TAKE NOTE OF THE BOTTOM PART OF THE BAKING ABOUT BASTING WITH THE BUTTER>>>>>>>>> 
It's very nice.....
qahtan


SUGAR CRUSTED BRETON BUTTER CAKE

1/2-ounce fresh yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/4 cups flour
Pinch salt
About 10 tablespoons lukewarm water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) best-quality unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons confectioners sugar

In a medium bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. When dissolved, mix in 1/2 cup of the flour with your fingers, rubbing them together to break up any lumps. Cover with a barely dampened towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the remaining 1 3/4 cups of flour and the salt. Add the yeast mixture and mix together with the tips of your fingers. Gradually sprinkle in the lukewarm water, mixing with your fingers to make a pliable dough. If the water is all mixed in and the dough still seems dry, add another tablespoon of water. Knead until smooth, about 4 minutes. Return the dough to the large bowl, cover with the damp towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and dust the top with flour. Roll into a rectangle about the same size as a sheet of paper (8 1/2 by 11-inches). Turn the rectangle so that it is vertical to your body. Dot the lower 2/3 of the dough with the pieces of butter and sprinkle with sugar. Working as though you are folding a letter, and folding the top down first, fold the dough in thirds. Roll out the folded dough into a rectangle,8 1/2 by 11 inches. Fold in 3 again in the same way, cover with the damp towel, and let rest 15 minutes. Roll into a rectangle again, fold in 3,cover with the damp towel, and let rest 15 minutes. One last time, roll into a rectangle, fold in 3, 
cover with the damp towel, and let rest 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan. Roll the dough into a circle about 9 inches in diameter. Transfer to the prepared pan. Using a sharp knife or razor blade, make a cross-hatch pattern across the top of the cake (like a tic-tac-toe board). Bake for 20 minutes, brushing the top every 5 minutes with the melted butter that oozes out from the cake. Sprinkle with the confectioners; sugar and continue baking (do not baste) until golden brown on the top but still moist inside, about 10 minutes more. Let cool on a rack until the crust is caramelized and slightly crispy.

YIELD: 1 cake


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## cookie mama (Mar 6, 2005)

thanks, this looks yummy! I hope I have time to make this for Easter


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## [email protected] (Mar 16, 2008)

qahtan;214105 said:


> This recipe comes from Cape Breton,
> 
> TAKE NOTE OF THE BOTTOM PART OF THE BAKING ABOUT BASTING WITH THE BUTTER>>>>>>>>>
> It's very nice.....
> ...


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Qahtan's recipe is exactly the same as Gale Gand's "Sugar-Crusted Breton Butter Cake" from her cookbook, Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs. At least the ingredients are. She has a photo of it in that book on page 138 if you want to see how the finished cake looks.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Cookie Mama's _gateau breton_ recipe comes from Gale Grand as well. It was demoed on Food TV and the recipe is posted on their site. Let it be said that qahtan's five times the baker I've ever been or will be, and that qahtan's recipe looks interesting. But _it's for a very different sort of cake._

*Cookie Mama you were an innocent victim*. Plus, you were 3/4 of the way there to figuring out the problem on your own. What was it? You guessed "not enough pan," which is more or less the same thing as "too much cake." *The recipe was written in quantities for two 8" cakes, yet specified it was for one*. Eet was, 'ow you say? oops.

The first clue was that you got butter to overflow a 2" pan, coming from a short dough rolled out to 1/2".

My reaction:   ?! Shorthand for, "WTF?!" At first I suspected you hadn't worked the dough enough, or hadn't rolled it thin enough. Of course, these are the same things really in that they amount to leaving too much air in the dough. (Note: it's a dough, not a batter.)

Then when I looked at the recipe. All became clear.

Only pawn in game of life,
BDL


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## norma (Jun 4, 2006)

Nick Malgieri says that a typical Gateau Breton is dense with a texture between pastry and pound cake. 
His versions have no yeast, nor baking powder. He also adds a layer of apple filling to lighten and add flavor to this dessert.
I have never made one, seems to be very tasty.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

FWIW: That, along with the absence of eggs in the in the dough he presents, are the two biggest difference's between qahtan's cake and a gateau breton. There are others, as well. However, the method specified for incorporating the butter in qahtan's recipe, "turning," is, I think, the traditional method for a gateau breton as well.

More FWIW: In addition to getting the quantities wrong for the yield, Gale Grand's comment at the head of her recipe, that the cake is leavened "with air whipped in" incorporating air, is also extremely misleading. More appropriate for a genoise than a gateau breton. As Norma points out, the cake is barely leavened at all, and very dense. Furthermore, there is absolutely no whipping or beating in making the gateau. Rather air is pushed out in the kneading and rolling processes, rather than incorporated. The lift is a result of other factors.

BDL


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## qahtan (Dec 7, 2003)

Thank you luvvy for those kind words. )))

qahtan


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