Basque cherry and pastry cream cake

Basque cake with a base and lid of almond dough, filled with pastry cream and cherry paste. It is preferable to prepare the cherry paste and the cream the day before and serve the cake well chilled, so it can be unmolded without breaking.
baked
cake
dessert
traditional
vegetarian
Ingredients
Servings
1
Measurement units

Dough

Dough for the Basque cake.

  • 240 gcake flour
  • 30 galmond flour
  • 150 gsoft butter
  • 100 gicing sugar
  • 1 packetvanilla sugar
  • 1 eggwhole egg
  • 2 gsalt
  • unitegg yolk
  • unitchemical leavening agent

Cherry paste

Cooked and thickened cherry filling.

  • 500 gcherries
  • 50 gsugar
  • 10 gcornstarch

Pastry cream

Pastry cream flavored with lemon and cinnamon or vanilla.

  • 500 mlwhole milk
  • 4 yolksegg yolks
  • 50 gsugar
  • 20 gcake flour
  • 20 gcornstarch
  • 1 stickcinnamon
  • 1 zestlemon peel
Nutritional Information

Per 100 g

Calories
224 kcal
Protein
4 g
Fat
10 g
Carbohydrates
30.2 g

Calculated from reviewed ingredient weights and pinned USDA FoodData Central records.

Step-by-step Guide

Prepare the cherry paste

It is best to prepare it the day before.

  1. Wash and dry the cherries, then remove their stems and pits.
  2. Put them in a saucepan with the sugar and stir.
  3. Leave them to macerate for a couple of hours so they release their juice.
  4. Cook them until they come to a boil, then cook for 5 minutes.
  5. Once cooked, drain them and collect the juice in a container.
  6. Set the cherries and juice aside separately.
  7. Let the juice cool slightly and set aside 250 ml to use later.
  8. Mix 4 tablespoons of juice with the cornstarch and set the mixture aside.
  9. Cook the remaining juice again.
  10. When the juice is hot, add the cornstarch mixture while stirring vigorously.
  11. Keep it over the heat for one or two minutes so it thickens slightly.
  12. Add the reserved cherries and cook them for one minute.
  13. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
  14. Let the preparation cool to room temperature.
  15. Once cool, cover it and transfer it to the refrigerator to finish chilling.

Prepare the pastry cream

It is best to prepare it the day before.

  1. Put a little cold milk, the starch, and the sifted flour in a cup, and stir until there are no lumps.
  2. Set this mixture aside.
  3. Put the milk, lemon peel, and half a vanilla stick in a pot and heat until it comes to a boil.
  4. Remove it from the heat and return it to the heat until it comes to a boil 3 times.
  5. Separate the yolks from the whites.
  6. Beat the yolks with the sugar in a large bowl.
  7. Add the dissolved starch to the bowl of yolks and stir.
  8. Strain the milk and pour it hot into the bowl of yolks while stirring.
  9. Put the mixture over low heat and stir until it thickens.
  10. Do not let it come to a boil.
  11. When it thickens to the desired consistency, remove it from the heat and let it cool.
  12. Transfer the cream to a bowl.
  13. If it has stuck, do not scrape it to use it, because it would have a burnt aftertaste.
  14. Cover it with plastic wrap directly touching the cream and let it cool to room temperature.
  15. Once cool, put it in the refrigerator until the following day.

Prepare the dough

On the day the cake is prepared.

  1. Put the softened, but not melted, butter, sugar, almond flour, and grated lemon peel in a bowl.
  2. Mix everything with a spatula.
  3. Add the beaten whole egg and then the yolk.
  4. Mix until the mixture is homogeneous.
  5. Add the flour, chemical leavening agent, and salt.
  6. Mix until you obtain a smooth dough.
  7. Form a ball and divide it into two parts: a 2/3 portion of the dough for the base and a 1/3 portion for the lid.
  8. Let both portions rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Assemble the cake

Assembly and baking.

Assemble the cake
  1. Line the base of the pan, butter it, and lightly flour it.
  2. Set the pan aside in the refrigerator.
  3. Preheat the oven to 190 °C.
  4. After the 2 hours, take out the 2/3 dough ball and flatten it slightly with your hands on the floured work surface.
  5. Finish rolling it out with a rolling pin to form a sheet about 4-5 mm thick.
  6. Cut out a circle of dough the size of the inner base of the pan.
  7. Place the base in the pan and prick it with a fork so it does not rise too much during baking.
  8. If the dough has warmed up and is difficult to work with for lining the side of the pan, form it into a ball again, roll it out between two sheets of plastic wrap, and leave it in the refrigerator for a while to chill.
  9. Once chilled, form a rectangular strip slightly lower than the side of the pan and with a length equal to the circumference.
  10. Fit the rectangular strip around the side of the pan.
  11. Press it lightly onto the base, but without deforming it.
  12. Fill the cake without reaching all the way to the top, leaving space to seal the side and the lid.
  13. Make a first layer of cream, spread it out, and level it.
  14. Reserve a little cream.
  15. Put the cherry paste on top and distribute it over the entire surface.
  16. Level it with a small layer of cream.
  17. Take the 1/3 dough ball for the lid out of the refrigerator and flatten it slightly with your hands on the floured work surface.
  18. Finish rolling it out with a rolling pin to form a sheet about 4-5 mm thick.
  19. Cut out a circle the inner size of the pan and place it on top.
  20. Seal the cake by pressing to join the lid to the dough on the side.
  21. Put the cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  22. Make a cut in the cake so it does not open during baking.
  23. Brush the lid with beaten egg yolk mixed with a splash of milk so it takes on a golden color during baking.
  24. Make horizontal and crosswise lines with the tips of a fork, going through the cake from top to bottom.
  25. Lower the oven temperature to 180 °C with bottom heat.
  26. Bake it for about 45-50 minutes.

Cool and serve

This is a cake that breaks if unmolded when it is not well chilled.

  1. Let the cake cool in the pan until it reaches room temperature.
  2. Put it in the refrigerator, without unmolding it, until it is completely cold.
Recommendations & Tricks
  • The cherry paste for the filling must be well chilled; it is best to prepare it the day before.
  • A springform pan or a ring must be used, because the cake breaks easily when unmolding it.
  • For a more Basque-style presentation, a ball made from dough trimmings can be kept in the refrigerator and used to form the Basque cross in the center; in this case, make a couple of cuts in the lid, one on each side of the cross, so it does not open during baking.
Original recipe
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    Basque cherry and pastry cream cake | The Catalan Table