Gâteau Breton. A fabulous Butter Cake from France.
Before Hawaii: a story and recipe from The Baking Wizard!
Slice of Gâteau Breton, the classic French butter cake from Brittany.
Does Butterfat Percentage Make a Difference?
I went wild over this cake when I tasted it for the first time at Bell's, a French bistro in Los Alamos, California. Its butteriness and shortbread-like texture are what made me an instant fan. How can a cake with only four ingredients be so good? It's the quality of the butter you use. Common supermarket brands are 80% butterfat, the lowest allowed by the USDA. But if you seek out brands such as Kerrygold, Plugra, Strauss, or Horizon, their butterfats range from 82% to 85%. Remember, fat carries flavor!
This cake is amazingly easy to make by hand, with an electric mixer, or in a food processor. Egg yolks hold the batter together. An egg yolk glaze, raked with the tines of a fork, give the cake a decoration and a beautiful burnished look.