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Edd Kimber’s gâteau breton

By: Edd Kimber

Published: 23 Aug 19
Updated: 18 Mar 24

Edd Kimber‘s gâteau breton is synonymous with the area it hails from, Brittany. It’s a cross between a cake and a biscuit: dense, moist and utterly delicious.

Edd’s version, filled with a prune purée, is the most typical, although the cake can also be made with many other fillings, including chocolate and caramel.

Take a look at our amazing Black Forest gâteau too – a totally different style of gâteau, but equally fruity and moist.

Easy
September 2019

Test kitchen approved

Serves 12
Hands-on time 30 min, oven time 50 min

Edd Kimber‘s gâteau breton is synonymous with the area it hails from, Brittany. It’s a cross between a cake and a biscuit: dense, moist and utterly delicious.

Edd’s version, filled with a prune purée, is the most typical, although the cake can also be made with many other fillings, including chocolate and caramel.

Take a look at our amazing Black Forest gâteau too – a totally different style of gâteau, but equally fruity and moist.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 364
Fat: 20.3g (11.8g sat fat)
Protein: 4.3g
Carbohydrates: 38.7g (19.6g sugar)
Fibre: 1.6g
Salt: trace

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Ingredients

For the filling

100g pitted ready-to-eat prunes, roughly chopped
2 tbsp rum

For the cake

300g plain flour
200g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter at room temperature, chopped, plus extra for greasing
6 large free-range egg yolks

You’ll also need

20cm round cake tin, greased and lined with non-stick baking paper

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Method

To make the filling, put the prunes in a small pan. Add 25ml cold water and the rum, then heat over a medium-high heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Use a fork to mash them to a thick purée, then cover and transfer to the fridge until needed.
To make the cake, put the flour, sugar and large pinch salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. (Alternatively, put the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the butter and rub together using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.)
Add 5 of the egg yolks and pulse (or stir with a fork) until the mixture forms a dough. Tip the dough onto a work surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and press each piece of dough into a flat disc. Transfer to the fridge for 2 hours or until firm.

Heat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/gas 4. Remove the dough and prunes from the fridge and put one portion of dough between 2 sheets of clingfilm or baking paper. Roll out into a 20cm circle. Put this dough into the prepared tin, pressing it gently into the corners of the tin.
Spread the prune purée across the dough, leaving a 2cm border around the outside edge. Roll out the remaining portion of dough, as before, into a 20cm circle and put it in the cake tin, pressing around the outside edge to stick the 2 pieces together and seal in the prune purée.
Whisk the remaining egg yolk in a bowl with 1 tsp water, then brush this eggwash over the top of the cake. Using a fork, score a crisscross pattern into the top of the cake. Bake for 50 minutes or until the cake is golden brown. (Cover with foil if the cake is browning too quickly.) Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Patisserie Made Simple by Edd Kimber published by Kyle Books, £16.99 (www.kylebooks.co.uk) Photograph: Laura Edwards