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September 2008
Walnut
and Caramel Cake
Gâteau Périgourdin
photo by France Ruffenach
Walnut trees do well in the thin, stony soil of Périgord, leading
to walnut pastries and cakes including this moist, rich gâteau
with a topping of crisp caramel. Like most nut cakes, the Gâteau
improves when kept a day or two in an airtight container, but the
topping should be added only a short time before serving as
caramel softens after a few hours in the open air.
Makes
a 9-inch/23-centimeter cake to serve 6 to 8
- 2
slices day old white bread
- 1
cup/150 grams/5 1/2 ounces walnut pieces
-
Pinch of salt
-
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons/140 grams/5 ounces butter, more for
the pan
-
2/3 cup/140 grams/5 ounces sugar
- 4
eggs, separated
-
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Topping
-
1/3 cup/75 grams/2 1/2 ounces sugar
-
1/4 cup/60 milliliters/2 fluid ounces water
- 8
walnut halves
-
9-inch/23-centimeter cake pan
Heat
the oven to 325˚F/160˚C/Gas 3. Toast the bread in the oven until
very dry, 6 to 8 minutes. Let it cool, leaving the oven on. Break
the bread in pieces and grind it to crumbs in the food processor.
Add the walnut pieces and salt and grind to a coarse powder (the
dry bread helps keep the walnuts light). Butter the cake pan, line
it with a round of parchment paper, and butter the paper.
Cream
the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk
attachment. Add half of the sugar and continue beating until light
and soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg yolks, one by one, beating
well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl to be
sure all the ingredients are mixed. Beat in the lemon zest. With a
spoon, stir in the ground walnut mixture.
Using
the mixer with another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff.
With the whisk turning, gradually add the remaining sugar and
continue beating until this meringue is stiff and glossy, 30
seconds to 1 minute. Fold about a quarter of the meringue into the
walnut mixture to lighten it, then add all the mixture to the
remaining meringue. Fold the two together as lightly as possible.
Spoon the batter into the cake pan and bake until the cake pulls
from the sides of the pan and a skewer inserted in the center
comes out clean when withdrawn, 40 to 50 minutes. If the cake
browns too quickly, cover it loosely with aluminum foil. Let the
cake cool 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack covered with a
sheet of parchment paper. Strip the lining paper from the cake and
leave it upside down (so it has a flat top) to cool completely, at
least an hour.
For the topping,
put the sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat gently
without stirring until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat and
boil until the sugar cooks to a golden brown caramel. Turn the
cake top upwards and set it back on the rack. Take the caramel
from the heat, let the bubbles subside and at once pour it over
the cake, spreading with a metal spatula to make a very thin
layer, letting it drip down the sides. Take care as caramel can
burn badly. Decorate the cake at once with walnut halves so they
stick to the caramel. The caramel will become crisp as it cools.
When starting to set, mark portions in the caramel with a knife so
the cake is easy to cut in wedges.
Excerpted from THE COUNTRY COOKING OF FRANCE
by Anne Willan, Chronicle Books, 2007.
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