All the taste of Reunion Island’s history embodied in the Gateau Nantais. The almond, with its soft texture, tells us about the flavors of amber rum, vanilla, and cane sugar. A cake fit for travel! A pastry that is easy and quick to make, but divinely good.
Picture by: Laurent Fau
INGREDIENTS
For the Nantes cake batter:
175 g La Perruche brown sugar (1)
120 g egg yolks
250 g butter
80 g T55 flour
400 g white almond powder
200 g egg whites
100 g La Perruche brown sugar (2)
For the soaking syrup:
1 orange
75 g orange juice
30 g amber rum
150 g water
50 g La Perruche brown sugar
1 scraped vanilla pod
For the glaze:
350 g La Perruche sugar, blended into icing sugar
50 g amber rum
35 g orange juice
Sugar Syrup:
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
1 ½ tablespoons glucose syrup (optional)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon orange blossom water
Nut Filling:
3 cups raw unsalted pistachios, shelled
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Pastry:
2 packets of phyllo dough (30 sheets), thawed
1 1/8 cups melted ghee
PREPARATION
Mix La Perruche brown sugar (1) with egg yolks. Then add melted butter, flour, and almond powder. Whisk egg whites with La Perruche brown sugar (2) and fold into the batter.
Peel the zest of a whole orange. In a saucepan, combine all ingredients for the soaking syrup and bring to a boil.
Blend La Perruche sugar into the finest powder to obtain icing sugar. Pour in the amber rum followed by the orange juice. Mix and cover to prevent crusting.
Grease a sponge cake mold, sprinkle with sliced almonds and La Perruche sugar, then flour. Pour the batter until 1 cm from the edge. Bake in a ventilated oven at 170°C for about 45 minutes.
Check the doneness by inserting a knife blade into the center of a cake; if it comes out clean, it’s cooked.
Unmold onto a rack, then lightly brush with the soaking syrup. Once cooled, finish by coating with the glaze. Let crystallize. Enjoy your Gateau Nantais.
