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Portrait of a Pâtissier: Three Generations, One Passion
By Anne Willan

I walk into the soothing, stone-lined interior of the oldest house in Pont Aven, a pretty town in southern Brittany, famous for its association with the painter Gauguin. A little group is seated peacefully awaiting me, three generations of the Jubin family. "Sit down and relax," they say. And the story begins.

Only 50 years ago, Thérèse Adelaide Rio, now in her late 80s, was running the boulangerie with her husband at Plouhinc, in the remote, forested interior of Brittany. Their oven was wood-fired, at least a century old, and life was primitive (electricity did not arrive until the 1960s). "Country bread was all we made," she says, "huge loaves that took 6 to 8 hours to rise and kept up to a week. Baguette was a city luxury not seen here." The only exception came at the August 15 festival of the Pardon of the Virgin which was celebrated with the famous Far Breton, a batter pudding spiked with plums. Each came in a distinctive dish, the easier to recognize when it was pulled from the communal oven (one woman used a chamber pot). "We had hundreds to bake, and would fire up the oven two or three times to get them done, it took all day," remarks Thérèse. "The café was next door so everyone drank a glass or two while waiting, it was quite a party. When no one was looking, the dogs would nibble the puddings cooling on the ground."

Her son Dominique Jubin takes up the story. "I was born in the bakery, as the saying goes. To have bread ready by 7 a.m., I had to knead my dough before midnight to give the levain (starter) time to rise." Soon Dominique was not only working through the night, as many bakers still do, but making popular pastries in the daytime, such as his giant Gâteaux Bretons, a variant of pound cake. Branching out, he opened a salon de thé next to the bakery. In the 1970s, multi-grain flours came into style, and with them pains fantaisies. "Using sea water, I invented a loaf that needed no salt, it was very popular", he says. "Boulangerie and pâtisserie are very different," he observes, "pastry requires precision, but bakery cannot be explained with science. To be a good pâtissier, you must also be a boulanger."

Such is the case with his son, Eric, who apprenticed with his father. Eric hit the fast track early; after graduating with his professional baker's certificate at age 17, he achieved a similar qualification in pastry in 6 months. "But I'm only following my father's example," he says. "He was trained as a baker but later he learned pastry too." After writing an application to the top pastry shops in Paris, Eric Jubin snagged first a temporary position, then a permanent one. He was working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, paying his dues at minimum wage. "I was useful, I could turn my hand to anything, bread, pastry, chocolate, sugar work, and all the time I was learning." Aged only 20, Eric ended in Paris at Fauchon, responsible for decoration of all cakes and pastries under the legendary pastry chef Pierre Hermé.

After a few years back in Brittany helping his father, Eric took to the road, traveling around the world working in top establishments in Thailand, China, Qatar, and the USA. "But you cannot keep running and have a family life," he admits. So now he is home, in Pont Aven, baking the local galettes a type of sand cookie flavored only with butter. Eric's croquants, studded with almonds, are for dipping in a glass of cider or Calvados and stay crisp for weeks. His macaroons rival those of top Parisian bakeries (which is where he learned to make them). His cakes include ribboned loaves of pound cake, all cut in individual portions in contemporary style. He has opened a section on chocolate – indeed his shop is called La Chocolaterie de Pont Aven.

While Eric is at work in back, his wife Lydie runs the front of house. Friends drop by. The children run into the shop after school to be rewarded with one of Papa's cakes. Their grandfather visits once a week, bringing freshly churned, unpasteurized butter from an artisan producer. Says Eric Jubin, "Here one can stop and reflect; I have time, I can take time. I can gather strawberries in the morning for my tarts at noon. There's no city in the world where I can do that."

Gâteau Breton

A cross between pound cake and shortbread, Gâteau Breton seems to me richer and more luscious than either. Every pâtissier has a few secrets, and in Eric Jubin's Gâteau Breton it is the drizzle of Calvados (apple brandy) and the pinch of baking powder "to wake up the flour", he says. Rum can be substituted for the Calvados. If using salted butter (as is preferred in Brittany) omit the salt.

Serves 6 to 8

1 cup/225 grams/8 ounces butter, more for the pan
1 cup/200 grams/7 ounces granulated sugar
1/4 cup/60 grams/2 ounces light brown sugar
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg, separated
2 1/2 cups/300 g/11 ounces flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Calvados or rum
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 egg yolk beaten to mix with 1 tablespoon water (for glaze)
8-inch/20-centimeter fluted tart pan with removable base

Put the egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer and scatter the granulated and brown sugar on top. Leave 10 minutes so the sugar reacts with the egg yolks and "burns" them slightly. Cut the butter in pieces and let it come to room temperature. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. Butter the tart pan.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar to mix them, then beat in the egg white. Continue beating until the mixture is light and leaves a ribbon trail when the whisk is lifted, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the butter and beat just until smooth. Beat in the Calvados. Sift the flour mixture over the butter mixture and stir them together until just smooth. Spread the batter in the tart pan and smooth the top with your hand dipped in water. Brush the surface with egg glaze and mark a lattice with the tines of a fork, held upright. Chill the batter until firm, about 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 375˚F/190˚C/Gas 5.

Set the tart pan on a baking sheet and put it in the oven. Reduce the heat to 350˚F/180˚C/Gas 4 and bake the gâteau until firm, golden brown and the sides shrink from the edges of the pan, 45 to 55 minutes. Let the gâteau cool to tepid in the pan, then unmold it onto a rack to cool completely. Gâteau Breton is equally good freshly baked, or kept in an airtight container for up to a week, when texture softens and the butter flavor becomes more pronounced.

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