Gateau basque

Preparation: 40 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
Medium difficulty

Ingredients (for 6 people):

Pastry
- 300 g flour
- 200 g sugar
- 200 g butter
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- salt
- 1 lemon
- 1 tea spoon of baker’s yeast

Custard
- 1/4 litre milk
- 50 g flour
- 50 g sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ clove of vanilla

1. Put the flour into a terrine dish and form a hollow in the middle. Add the beaten full egg, the 2 egg yolks, the yeast, the sugar, salt and butter (in small pieces) and a zest of lemon. Work the pastry until it is smooth. Roll it into a ball and leave in the refrigerator for at least two hours, in a floured cloth.

2. For the custard, heat the milk and add the ½ clove of vanilla.

3. Put into a terrine dish the sugar, two egg yolks, and two full eggs (beaten). Cook the mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle in the flour and salt, then the hot milk, stirring all the time.

4. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat on a very low flame, stirring all the time. The cream will thicken a little. Remove from the heat and continue to stir until it cools.

5. Next, rub butter and flour into a deep baking tin. Divide the ball of pastry into two, with proportions of 1/3 and 2/3. With a rolling pin, roll the bigger ball and place in the bottom of the tin, forming a fold on the sides. Pour the cooled custard into the tin.

6. Flatten the rest of the pastry with a rolling pin and place it on top of the cream, like a lid. Make sure you wet and pinch together the edges of the two pieces of pastry.

7. Decorate the top of the gateau with a fork. Put into the oven (180 °C – preheated) and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.