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Le Gateau Basque. French Cherry & Almond Tarte

A Pyrenean Dessert to Celebrate the Cherry Festival at Itxassou

May 6, 2009 Kerry Swash

A delicious French dessert traditionally made to celebrate the cherry festival, La Fete de la Cerise. The aromatic almond pastry sandwiches a sweet beltxa cherry compote

May is cherry blossom time in the French Pyrenees. Along the whole length of the mountain chain the cherry orchards flourish in the lower foothills, where the alluvial soil and sheltered microclimate offer the perfect growing conditions. From Ceret in Languedoc Roussillon to Itxassou in the Pays Basque cherries are big business.

Ceret is famed in particular for the Burlat variety which was introduced by Joseph Guitard in 1952, it has a firm flesh which is good for preservation and transportation and used mainly in savoury dishes such as Stuffed Pintade or Stuffed Goose, Similarly it can be pressed and rolled into a Pork Roti.

Itxassou specialises in local cultivars; Bigorre for eating, Peloa for sirops, Xapata a small juicy sweet cherry and Beltxa a rare black cherry which makes excellent jam and compote and is not grown anywhere else.

In Ceret the famous Fete de la Cerise is held on the 23rd and 24th May 2009 - a weekend of stone spitting competitions, music and dancing in the street. In Itxassou the Fete is a movable feast (quite literally) they set the date at 50 days after the first blossoms. It is a slightly more sober affair beginning with a mass of thanks for a good harvest and culminating in a street meal. Both Fetes are similar in that they welcome thousands of visitors for the cherry weekend and the Grande Marche de la Cerise sells tonnes of cherries each day.

Recipe : Le Gateau Basque a la cerise

Serves 8

Prep time: 20 minutes

Rest Time: 2 hours

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

300g plain flour
200g butter
1 egg plus 2 yolks
200g cherry compote or jam
200g caster sugar
3cl almond liqueur
zest of 1 orange

Method:

Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl.
Make a well in the centre and pour in softened butter, sugar, egg and yolks (keeping a small amount of yolk back).
Fold in until you have a smooth paste. Add the almond liqueur and orange zest. Mix until you almost have a dough or pate.
Leave to rest in the fridge for 2hrs.
Separate the dough into two and roll into two flat discs.
Put one pastry disc into the bottom of a buttered or lined flan dish.
Spread the cherries over it and top with the other disc.
Prick the top with a fork and brush with the remaining egg yolk.
Put in the oven gas mark 5, 180degrees, (350f ) for 45 mintues.

To Serve: Serve hot with single cream, or cold with a local cherry liqueur

The copyright of the article Le Gateau Basque. French Cherry & Almond Tarte in Culinary Travel is owned by Kerry Swash. Permission to republish Le Gateau Basque. French Cherry & Almond Tarte in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

cherries