I first discovered gâteau nantais at Café Trama, a father-and-daughter bistro close to the Bon Marché department store. I spotted it immediately as I walked in, glowing from the marble counter. An astonishingly moist and fragrant almond cake infused with rum and vanilla, it is crowned by a white glaze that thinly crackles as the spoon digs in.
As the name suggests, it hails from Nantes in the west of France. The city is built on the banks of the Loire River and became the largest slave port in France in the 18th century. (It hasn’t been easy for Nantes to come to terms with this dark chapter of its history, but the Quai de la Fosse, where slave ships moored, is now home to the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery.) The boatloads of riches from the French Caribbean—including sugar, rum, and vanilla—inspired a local pâtissier of the time to create this cake.
This recipe was excerpted from ‘Tasting Paris’ by Clotilde Dusoulier. Buy the full book on Amazon.
You can bake the gateau Nantais the day before serving. Cover with a kitchen towel and glaze just before serving.
Recipe information
Total Time
45 minutes, plus cooling
Yield
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
For the glaze
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Step 2
Grease an 8-inch (20 cm) round cake pan with ½ teaspoon of the butter and dust the bottom and sides with 1 tablespoon of the all-purpose flour. Tap out the excess.
Step 3
In a bowl, combine the almond flour, remaining all-purpose flour, and salt. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining butter and the sugar. Add in the vanilla and cream everything together. Whisk in the eggs, one by one, beating well between each addition. Whisk in the rum. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet without overmixing; the batter will be thick. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap it against the counter to settle. Bake until the top of the cake is golden and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Step 4
Transfer to a rack and cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the cake to loosen and flip onto a serving plate so the bottom faces up. Cool completely before glazing.
Prepare the glaze
Step 5
Put the powdered sugar in a small bowl and stir in the rum. The glaze should be thick and creamy, not runny. Spread on the top of the cooled cake and let set for 1 hour before serving.
Recipe notes
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