Gateau Creusois with easy creme patissiere

Gateau Creusois, like many French cakes, is found only in Creuse, its region of origin. During renovations of a monastery in the late 1960s, this recipe was found on parchment dating back to the 15th century. It was cooked on a flat tile, like those used at the time to roof the buildings. It makes a very easy and delicious Christmas or dinner party dessert, served with a raspberry coulis.

The secret is to not beat the egg whites as you do for pavlova. Originally the gateau would have been made with a fork, so do not beat any longer than advised as the gateau will rise too much and be dry.

I made two cakes and used the egg yolks to make the creme patissiere to sandwich them together. (Note: The recipe below is for one cake only.) I finished the gateau with a dusting of icing sugar and chopped hazelnut praline-coated nuts. The cakes freeze well and the custard can be made 4-5 days ahead of time and refrigerated until needed.

For the cake

5	Egg whites, at room temperature (Main)
¾ cup	Caster sugar
¾ cup	Ground hazelnuts (Main)
½ cup	Flour, sifted
100 g	Butter, preferably unsalted, melted and cooled

For the patissiere (makes 2 cups)

5	Egg yolks
3 Tbsp	Flour
¼ cup	Sugar
1 ½ cups	Milk, bring to scalding point
1 tsp	Vanilla essence
2 Tbsp	Hazelnut liqueur, optional

Directions

To make the cake

1. Heat the oven to 170C. Grease and line the base of a 23cm cake tin.
2. Using an electric beater, beat the egg whites and sugar together on a medium speed for one minute. The mixture will be thick and smooth, like a thick pancake batter.
3. Fold in the hazelnuts and flour. Once evenly blended, fold in the butter. Transfer to the prepared tin.
4. Bake for around 20 minutes or until the cake is just golden and has come away from the edge of the tin. Cool for a few minutes before turning out on to a cake rack to cool. It does not rise greatly, but is very moist.

To make the patissiere

In a microwave-proof jug, whisk together the egg yolks, flour, sugar, milk and essence. Cook at 100 percent power for 1 minute. Whisk. Repeat at 30-60 second intervals until thick. Whisk in the liqueur if using. Place a layer of plastic wrap directly on to the custard and set aside to cool. Refrigerate until required.

To assemble

Make and sandwich 2 cakes together with the patissiere and garnish with icing sugar and hazelnut-praline coated nuts. Note: The recipe above makes only 1 cake.