Gâteau Lorrain
If you’ve read some of the previous entries in this blog, you may have noticed my interest in French cakes. Some of the recipes for these cakes have been difficult to track down and have needed a bit of research coupled with some trial and error. This is definitely not the case with this recipe.
I first saw this recipe on Hervé’s excellent blog Les Ateliers d' Hys earlier this year. Since then I’ve seen the recipe turn up on more blogs than I’ve had hot dates – actually, a lot more. There are many variations on this recipe around now – savoury versions, fruity versions, gluten-free versions and Hervé himself has posted a chocolate version. I really can’t remember seeing any cake recipe have this kind of impact before. So I had to find out what the fuss was all about and make one for myself.
The first thing to say is that it’s really easy and quick to put together – especially if you have a stand mixer. But, more importantly, it’s a superbly light cake with an excellent, tasty crust. It’s a little like a Gâteau de Savoie but with extra flavour and richness from the butter. Great as an afternoon treat but also excellent as a dessert with fruit and something creamy.
I used Hervé’s original recipe, which you can find here. I cut down on the amount of sugar, which he suggests is an option, and I used a 20 cm tin. In my oven, it definitely needed to be covered part way through baking to prevent excessive browning. Incidentally, since I also wanted to make a large batch of meringues, I used a pack of chilled egg white for this recipe rather than have a lot of egg yolks hanging around. I'd never used the product before but I'm happy to report that it works very well - I don't know why I had any doubts, really.
I first saw this recipe on Hervé’s excellent blog Les Ateliers d' Hys earlier this year. Since then I’ve seen the recipe turn up on more blogs than I’ve had hot dates – actually, a lot more. There are many variations on this recipe around now – savoury versions, fruity versions, gluten-free versions and Hervé himself has posted a chocolate version. I really can’t remember seeing any cake recipe have this kind of impact before. So I had to find out what the fuss was all about and make one for myself.
The first thing to say is that it’s really easy and quick to put together – especially if you have a stand mixer. But, more importantly, it’s a superbly light cake with an excellent, tasty crust. It’s a little like a Gâteau de Savoie but with extra flavour and richness from the butter. Great as an afternoon treat but also excellent as a dessert with fruit and something creamy.
I used Hervé’s original recipe, which you can find here. I cut down on the amount of sugar, which he suggests is an option, and I used a 20 cm tin. In my oven, it definitely needed to be covered part way through baking to prevent excessive browning. Incidentally, since I also wanted to make a large batch of meringues, I used a pack of chilled egg white for this recipe rather than have a lot of egg yolks hanging around. I'd never used the product before but I'm happy to report that it works very well - I don't know why I had any doubts, really.
I am very happy that you like this cake !!
ReplyDeleteso good with a cup of tea !!
have a nice day
Hervé /Lesateliersdhys
Many thanks for visiting my blog and for realising how important the cup of tea is this side of the channel.
DeleteThis is definitely the type of cake I like. I looked at Herve's' website for the recipe. What a yummy cake! The French are exceptional at baking very good cakes.
ReplyDeleteI will try this recipe very soon!
Looks utterly delicious!! Love Herve's baking, and now so longing for this cake - thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteOzlem
This looks amazing...especially good to hear there'a a gluten free version too.
ReplyDeleteBy the way I was so tempted by your duck recipe last week that I had to buy a Gressingham duck for the weekend! It went down really well. Thanks for the recommendation.
Deb
Glad to hear you had some Gressingham duck at the weekend. I always think duck is a huge treat - something a bit special.
DeleteI think there's more than one gluten free versions of the cake around, but the one I saw first was: http://gourmandesansgluten.blogspot.fr/2012/05/petits-gateaux-lorrains-aux-cerises-et.html.
Best brush up on my French if I want to try this one, then. It looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteSorry for giving you grief with the change of language. I was hoping that the very handy translation services like Mr Google's would put the recipe into English in a sensible way. But I must admit I didn't notice that it seemed to have a lot of trouble with the phrase "montez en neige bien fermes" - this means that the egg whites should be whisked to firm peaks and not until they "well ride in snow farms" as the translation suggested. I think I'd better stick to English in the future.
DeleteHa ha, love it! I am now off to well ride in snow farms.
DeleteI think I must having been baking on the moon for the last year as I'm embarrassed to say I haven't heard of this cake... a situation I feel I need to immediately rectify by baking it!!
ReplyDeleteThere's no need to be embarrassed - it has been largely a French phenomenon so far. But it's a really nice cake that's well worth baking in any country.
DeleteThis looks like a really nice cake - Hervé's blog is interesting - baking French recipes is always a challenge !! Will definitely give this one a try - I have never heard of it before.
ReplyDeleteWow what a lovely looking cake. I LOVE the last picture! I want the bigger slice please :)
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious.I love Herve's blog, and am going to try his chocolate version. It's a cake I didn't come across when living in France.
ReplyDeletePhil,what chocolate powder would you suggest, as Herve says not one with sugar?
The powdered chocolate/cocoa powder question is a tricky one - people seem to mean different things by the same words quite often. In this case I'd use an unsweetened cocoa powder such as Van Houten or Ghirardelli, depending on where in the world you happen to be. Personally I use Green and Blacks for pretty much all my baking these days.
DeleteThanks, the cake is on my 'to do' list for this coming week!
ReplyDeleteThank you, this looks exactly like the type of cake that I've been craving with a good cup of strong tea. I'm copying this recipe so that I can try it.
ReplyDeleteOh goodie, another delicious sounding French cake to try :)
ReplyDeleteNEver heard of this cake before but it looks interesting - and I know just the person who would love me to make them this
ReplyDelete