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Eric Lanlard’s gâteau breton

By: Eric Lanlard

Published: 21 Mar 22
Updated: 25 Mar 24

Patissier Eric Lanlard shares his family recipe for traditional gâteau breton. This rich, buttery bake is like a cross between a cake and a biscuit and is served, usually with coffee, at celebrations in Brittany.

Easy
March 2022

Test kitchen approved

Serves 8-10
Hands-on time 20 min, plus chilling. Oven time 40-45 min.

Vegetarian recipes

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 471kcals
Fat: 24.5g (14.1g saturated)
Protein: 6g
Carbohydrates: 54.2g (27.5g sugars)
Fibre: 1.6g
Salt: 0.5g

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Ingredients

350g plain flour
250g salted butter (ideally good quality Brittany butter)
250g golden caster sugar
5 medium free-range egg yolks (see Don’t Waste It), plus 1 whole beaten egg
2 tbsp dark rum
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and finely sliced

You’ll also need

20cm springform or loose-bottomed cake tin, lightly greased with butter and the base lined

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Method

Heat the oven to 160ºC fan/gas 4. Put the flour, butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
Put the egg yolks, rum and vanilla paste in a jug, beat with a fork, then pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix gently to form a dough. Divide the mixture into 2 equal portions.
Press one piece of the dough into the prepared cake tin. Arrange the sliced apples on top, leaving a small border around the edge, then press them gently into the dough. Roll the remaining piece of dough between 2 sheets of baking paper to a rough 22cm disc, then put on top of the apples and press down lightly to create an even top. Brush with the beaten egg.

Use a fork to lightly trace a criss-cross/diamond pattern on top of the dough, then bake for 40-45 minutes until golden.

Recipe from March 2022 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 471kcals
Fat: 24.5g (14.1g saturated)
Protein: 6g
Carbohydrates: 54.2g (27.5g sugars)
Fibre: 1.6g
Salt: 0.5g

delicious. tips

Don’t waste it: Lightly beat, label and freeze the egg whites to use in other recipes.
The cake will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container (don’t chill it).
If the top of the cake browns too quickly, loosely cover it with foil.

Eric says: “The classic gâteau breton is made with either peeled and sliced apple in the middle, laced with rum, or with armagnac-soaked prunes. As with most traditional recipes, everyone’s mum or grandmother’s is the best… This recipe is my grandmother Camille’s.”