Sugar Crusted Breton Butter Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and salt; beat just until combined. Do not overmix.
• Transfer batter to 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom; with small offset spatula, spread batter and smooth top. (If necessary, chill batter 10 minutes before smoothing.) Place pan in refrigerator 15 minutes.
• Remove from refrigerator. Brush top with beaten egg, and mark a criss-cross pattern with a fork. Brush again with egg. Bake until cake is deep golden brown and edges pull away from sides of pan, about 50 minutes.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Remove cake from pan, and slice while still warm. Serve with strawberry compote.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom.
• Sift both flours, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed until doubled in volume and pale yellow, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the butter in four parts, beating until completely combined after each, 1 to 2 minutes total. With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture, beating until combined.
• Transfer batter to prepared pan; with a small offset spatula, spread batter and smooth top. (If necessary, chill batter for 10 minutes before smoothing.) Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Remove pan from refrigerator. Brush top with beaten egg, and mark a crosshatch pattern with a knife. Brush again with egg. Bake until cake is deep golden brown and edges pull away from sides of pan, 40 to 45 minutes. Cover with foil if browning too quickly.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Remove cake from pan, and slice while still warm.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter and dust it with 1 tablespoon of the flour.
• Toss the plums with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the brandy; set aside.
• Cream the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a large bowl with 1 cup of the sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Sift the remaining 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt together and beat into the creamed butter.
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until they start to foam. Do not over beat, or the cake will be tough. Add the eggs and ground walnuts to the flour and butter mixture. Mix well.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the plums on top in rings. Sprinkle with any remaining brandy-sugar syrup and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
• Bake for 1 hour, or until the cake is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the cake (not the plums) comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing the sides of the springform pan and serving. Garnish with a dusting of confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat gas oven 350 degrees, electric 325 degrees. All ingredients should be room temperature. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. Sift flour, add baking powder and salt. Set aside. On medium speed, cream butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. (Or 150 strokes by hand.) On medium speed, (or another 150 strokes) add 1 egg at a time. After 2 eggs add 2 tablespoons flour. Add flour mix alternating with the milk, ending with the flour. Add extracts. Place cake pan in middle of oven. Pans should not touch. Baking time approximately 35 minutes.
• In a hot cast-iron skillet or heavy saucepan melt butter and brown sugar together on high heat, stirring until sugar is thoroughly melted. Transfer into mixing bowl and, using mixer on low speed, starting and ending with confectioners' sugar; alternately add heavy cream with vanilla, beating until frosting becomes spreadable. Spread on cooled cake.;

Steps:

• Combine the lemon zest and juice in a nonreactive saucepan with the sugar and eggs and beat well. Add the butter and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens into curd. Be sure to keep scraping the bottom of the pan during the few minutes this takes you; you don't want the eggs to scramble before the curd forms. If you're the nervous type, make the curd in a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water (the bowl shouldn't touch the water). The curd will take just a little longer to thicken, about 5 minutes. Strain the crud into a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface so a skin doesn't form. Refrigerate until cool, at least 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a springform pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter and dust it with 1 tablespoon of the flour.
• Cream the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a large bowl with 1 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy. Sift the remaining 1 cup flour, the baking powder, and salt together and stir into the creamed butter.
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until they start to foam. Do not overbeat, or the cake will be tough. Add the eggs and ground almonds to the flour and butter mixture, mixing well.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Drop 8 individual tablespoons of lemon curd evenly around the outside of the cake, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Try to place the curd so there's an even amount of cake batter between each dollop of curd. Drop 3 tablespoons curd in the center. Refrigerate any remaining curd for another use (hint: breakfast toast). Sprinkle the top of the cake with sliced almonds and 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar, according to taste.
• Bake until the cake is toasty brown on top and a toothpick or knife inserted into the cake comes out clean (be sure not to insert it near the curd), about 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan and let cool completely on a rack.
• If serving the cake with whipped cream, add the almond liqueur to the heavy cream and beat until the cream is stiff. Sift a thin, even layer of confectioners' sugar over the top of the cake. Present the cake at the table and offer the almond whipped cream on the side.

Steps:

• Place the flour on the counter and make a well. Cut up the butter and place the sifted sugars, butter, yolks, rum, and vanilla powder in the well. Work the well together.
• Work in the flour then "fraisage" the dough, pushing it away from you on the counter with the heel of your hand. This helps schmear the butter into thin layers to make the cake flakey in the end. Chill the dough 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 360 degrees F.
• Butter an 8-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment and butter the paper. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to an 8-inch disk about 1/2-inch thick. Flip it over onto your hand and brush off the excess flour then place it in the pan. Brush the top with egg wash; then egg wash it again to get a thicker coating. Using a knife, decorate it with the traditional cross-hatching, or for restaurant presentation you carve a map of Brittany on the surface and do some angled lines all around the edge. Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan and serve in wedges.
• I kept this recipe in the original metric measurements I was taught it in to show the relationship between the ingredients. Quatre-Quarts (meaning "four quarters") is a French cake shaped like a rectangle and all the ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, and eggs-oooo that would make a good book title, don't you think?) are of equal weights. My teacher, Chef Claude at La Varenne said you weigh the eggs and then match that measurement with the other ingredients.
• If you look this up in the dictionary, Quarte-quarts translates to pound cake, the American version of a pound of 4 equal ingredients, but with air whipped in for leavening. This cake is dense and buttery with a big crumb, more like a shortbread than a cake.
• You can do the mixing in a food processor but this recipe is the traditional way.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine yeast with 2/3 cup water and the orange flower water. Let sit until bubbly. In a large bowl, combine the flours, salt and yeast mixture. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth. Butter a large bowl and add dough. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 30 to 60 minutes. Place in refrigerator to firm up, about 30 minutes.
• On a lightly floured surface, pound chilled butter into a 5-inch square. Cover with plastic wrap and let come almost to room temperature; it should have an icing-like texture. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a 10-inch disk. Place butter on top and fold dough up and around it to cover.
• Working quickly, roll out dough so that it is 2 feet long and 1 foot wide. Using a pastry brush, brush off excess flour. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar, and fold into thirds as if folding a business letter. Turn 90 degrees, sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar, roll out to 2 feet long and 1 foot wide, and fold into thirds. Repeat 2 more times, scraping up sticky areas. Avoid using too much flour.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter and sugar a 9-inch glass pie plate. Place dough in plate, tucking corners under. Let rise in a warm place until soft and puffy, 1 to 2 hours. Brush surface with melted butter, and sprinkle with a generous amount of sugar and a little orange flower water. Bake until risen and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. If top browns before bottom, cover with foil. The bottom should be hazelnut brown. Remove from oven, slice and serve warm.