French Cake Recipes… Deliciously Decadent
Here are some divine french cake recipes that you will absolutely love.
The first one is a Breton gateau, a rich, traditional butter cake from Brittany. We’ve included strawberry jam in this recipe, but you don’t need to use it, you can keep it plain; or for something more indulgent, you could substitute with liqueur-soaked fruit.
French Cake Recipes – Breton Gateau
Serves 8
225g self-raising flour
225g lightly salted butter, diced
250g caster sugar
6 egg yolks
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
125g strawberry jam
1 egg yolk, mixed with 1 tsp water
Place the flour sugar and butter in a bowl and mix with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Blend yolks with the vanilla in another bowl, then add to the flour, sugar and butter mix. Whiz the whole thing in the blender (or mixer, ideally) until it forms a sticky dough. (You can also do all this by hand if you don’t have a mixer/blender – place the flour on a worksurface, make a well in the middle, add the eggs, sugar, and butter and knead until combined.)
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 190C. Butter a 20cm x 5cm springform cake tin. Press half the dough into the tin, then add a layer of jam on the surface, then place a second layer of dough over the top.
Brush the surface with the egg yolk/water mixture.
Bake for about 45 minutes until deeply golden and crusty. Leave it to cool before removing from the tin.
Gâteau au Chocolat
Here are some more delicious french cake recipes. This one is a very rich french chocolate cake recipe.
Serves 6
180g dark chocolate
175g butter
125g sugar
200g ground almonds
4 eggs, separated
For the icing:
100g dark chocolate
50 butter
You will need a 25cm springform cake tin.
Preheat the oven to 150C.
Break the chocolate into pieces in a heatproof bowl and melt chocolate over a pan of gently simmering water (making sure that the water doesn’t boil or touch the surface of the bowl).
Mix the butter and sugar until soft and creamy. Add the almonds, egg yolks and melted chocolate and combine until blended.
Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, add to the mixture and fold in.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for approximately 35 minutes. Leave to cool before removing from the tin.
To make the icing, melt the chocolate and butter in the same way as you did for the cake mixture, then drizzle over the cake and allow to set before serving.
If you’re enjoying these french cake recipes, you might like to try our other easy french dessert recipes, like cherry clafoutis, as well as other famous french desserts – creme brulee, tarte tatin and chocolate mousse.