In French, this Breton Pound cake is called a “quatre-quarts“, which translates to “four quarters”. It is very popular in Brittany, of course, but also widely known and enjoyed all throughout France. It consists – just like a classic pound cake – of four ingredients of equal weight: one quarter flour, one quarter butter, one quarter sugar and one quarter eggs. It traditionally doesn’t require any leavening agent (ie. baking powder) or flavoring (ie. vanilla extract).

So what makes this Breton Pound Cake different from a classic Pound Cake?

Instead of classic salted or unsalted butter, this cake requires the use of sea-salted butter, known in French as “Beurre Salé”. This “Beurre Salé” is commonly consumed in the North-Western part of France (especially Brittany) and is used heavily in local baked goods (like in these Salted Butter Breton Sablés). It includes 3 to 5% more salt than the salted butter found in the US/Canada, which is in the form of sea-salt flakes. It gives this pound cake lovely salted-buttery notes, all while enhancing all the flavors.

If you live outside of France and can’t buy “Beurre Salé”, you can recreate it by using unsalted butter with some sea-salt flakes (such as Fleur de sel or Maldon). I do not recommend you use salted butter as a substitute: it usually has a higher water content than unsalted butter, so it could give you an inconsistent result.

This Breton Pound Cake (Quatre-quarts) is so humble, yet moist, with a slightly dense crumb (not too dense, nor gummy) and with lovely salted butter notes. In the Spring, it is the perfect canvas for whipped cream and fresh berries. Pairing it with fresh strawberries is actually very common to do in Brittany, using small local strawberries from Plougastel, which are so beloved in the region. 

In the Summer, you can use stone fruits like cherries, peach or apricots. In the Fall, spiced stewed apples and in the Winter, a warm chocolate sauce or blood orange marmalade. The next day, you can toast slices of it in your toaster (it is delicious!) or make French Toast with it. It is also ideal for trifles.

Cooking notes:

• Weigh your ingredients, rather than using cups.

Generally speaking, I am a huge advocate of using a food scale for baking. And this couldn’t be any truer when baking a Pound Cake: it is all about having the exact equal weight of eggs, flour, sugar and butter – so using a food scale is essential. Start by measuring the weight of your 3 eggs (3 large eggs, out of the shell – it should equal about 150g), and use the exact same weight of flour, sugar and butter.

• Have all your ingredients at room temperature.

The eggs should be at room temperature for them to retain more air when beaten. If too cold, the whites will be sifter and won’t welcome in air as much.

• Use an electric beater or a stand mixer (or some elbow grease!).

A Pound cake doesn’t rely on any leavening agents (ie.baking powder) for it to rise. Instead, it relies on the air that is trapped within the egg whites when beaten to a firm peak. For this reason, the use of an electric beater or stand mixer will be very helpful. If not, the recipe is doable by hand with a whisk, but get your wrist ready for a whole lot of beating. 

• A few flavoring twists.

I love the simplicity of this Breton Pound Cake, and enjoy it as is, allowing the lovely salted-butter notes shine through. But if you wish, you can add any of 1 tsp vanilla extract, ½ tsp almond extract, 1 tsp lemon zest or 1 tsp orange zest to add some different notes.

I hope you’ll love this Breton Pound Cake (Quatre-Quarts) with berries and whipped cream as much as I do! If you have any questions, please leave a comment. 

You may also like: 

• Orange Yogurt Cake
• Classic French Apple Cake
• Classic French Tarte aux Fraises

Breton Pound Cake (Quatre-Quarts) with berries and whipped cream

Print Recipe

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cooking Time: 45 Minutes 45 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 4.9/5

( 9 voted )

Ingredients

Note: This recipe is based on 3 eggs weighing 150g. If your eggs weigh less or more, adapt your other ingredient measurements accordingly.

3 large eggs (150g)
150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp flaky sea salt, such as Fleur de sel or Maldon
150g Sugar
150g All-purpose Flour, sifted
For serving:
Whipped Cream (about 3 cups, whipped, for the whole cake)
About 2 cups of fresh berries (strawberries, raspberries and blackberries), washed and hulled.

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F (180°C). 

 Melt the butter in a saucepan and set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until foamy and lighter in color. Whisk in the cool melted butter. Switch to a spoon or spatula, and mix in the flour and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until firm. Add a spoonful of the egg whites to the batter and mix to loosen the consistency. Add the rest of the egg whites and gently fold in with a spatula.

Transfer the batter to the prepare pan and bake for about 1 hour, until golden and knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and let cool to room temperature completely, before serving.

Just before serving, top the cake with whipped cream and decorate with fresh berries.

The post Breton Pound Cake (Quatre-Quarts) with berries and whipped cream appeared first on Pardon Your French.

I know this Jalousie Tart plays the part of a fancy-looking pastry, but with the use of store-bought puff pastry and a pack of frozen berries, you can effortlessly whip up this treat in less than 30 minutes (and you’ll have a dessert that’ll look like it took you a whole day to make).

Once baked and sliced along the slats, this Jalousie Tart can be turned into nifty hand-held pie morsels that are crisp on the outside, and ooey-gooey on the inside. The perfect treat, at anytime of the day!

Why use frozen berries, and not fresh?

I know we’re gearing towards berry season and it could sound counterintuitive to use frozen berries, as opposed to fresh. But the reason why I think frozen berries work best here is because they will render lots of juice when cooked on the stovetop. We will then re-use this juice to build a rich glaze that will coat the berries nicely and create a luscious fruit filling. 

When using fresh berries and cooking them on the stovetop, they will not render as much juice and we won’t be able to build a glaze from it. The result of the cooked fresh fruits will be closer to a fruit jam/puree, rather than whole fruits coated in a glaze.

Cooking notes:

• Although I honestly often rely on store-bought puff pastry to save time, you can of course make your own puff-pastry from scratch. For this, I like to use Anna Olson’s recipe. Mardi Michel’s cookbook “In the French Kitchen with Kids”(affiliate link) also features a rough puff pastry recipe that I have made a few times, and it turned out great.
• For the mixed berry filling, I used a bag of the Berry Cherry Fusion from Irresistibles (found at Metro), which was a perfect size (14-oz).

Spiced Berry Jalousie Tart

Print Recipe

Serves: 8 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes 30 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 4.7/5

( 10 voted )

Ingredients

1 (13-oz [375-g]) square sheet of pre-rolled puff pastry, thawed overnight in the fridge.
1 ¾ cup (14-oz [375-g]) frozen berries (not thawed)
¼ cup (50g) sugar
½ lemon, juiced and zested
½ tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 cloves
1 star anise
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ tbsp (11.25g) cornstarch
2 tbsp (30ml) water
1 large egg + 1 tsp milk (for the egg wash)
1 tbsp (12g) demerara sugar (for sprinkling)

Instructions

Step 1. Prepare the berry filling. In a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat, combine the frozen berries with the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, star anise and salt. Stir and bring to a low simmer. Cook for about 10-12 minutes until the berries are soft and have released most of their juice. Using a slotted spoon, remove the berries from the pan (leaving the juices in the pan) and set aside in a bowl. Discard of the cloves and star anise.

Keep the heat on (medium-low heat) with the juices in the pan.

Step 2. Mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons (30ml) of water until fully dissolved. Stir the cornstarch mix into the berry juices and bring to a low simmer. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring continuously, until the liquid thickens to a custardy consistency. Immediately remove from the heat and genty stir into the berries. Set aside to cool (the mix will thicken further when cooling, to reach a marmalade-like consistency).

Step 3. Pre-heat your oven to 400F(205C) with a rack in the middle. Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet.

On a lightly floured working surface, unroll the puff pastry square. Cut it in half (down the middle) to get two rectangles, each about 6×14-inch (15.25x35.5cm).

Transfer the first rectangle onto the parchement lined baking sheet. Spoon the berry filling in the middle, leaving a 1 ½ inch border all around.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk and brush some all around the border of the dough rectangle. 

Fold the other rectangle in half (along the long side). Using a sharp knife, cut 3-inch (7.5cm) long slits, at 1-inch (2.5cm) intervals along the length of the fold (not all the way through to the unfolded edge).

Keep the dough folded and carefully place it ontop of the other dough rectangle with the filing. Unfold and use a fork to pinch together the edges of the two rectangles to seal it. Brush the rest of the egg wash all over the top and sprinkle with the demerara sugar.

Chill the tart for 10 minutes in the fridge.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Let cool at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving. 

If you try this Spiced Berry Jalousie Tart recipe let me know!  Leave a comment or share a photo using #pardonyourfrench on Instagram. Bon Appétit!

The post Spiced Berry Jalousie Tart appeared first on Pardon Your French.

A Southern-French classic, this egg-based frothy sauce is effortlessly whipped together, yet it makes for a unique and elegant dessert poured over fresh fruits. And with the arrival of Berry season, I wanted to revisit it using orange juice instead of alcohol (for a more affordable and approachable version).

A truly simple, early-summer pleasure.

Being a French Classic (and traditionally an alcohol-infused dessert),  I can see how a “Sabayon” can sound intimidating. But truth is, it will take you no longer than 10 minutes to make and there is really nothing difficult about it – you just need to whip (and when you think you’re done whipping, you whip some more).

Traditionally, a Sabayon is made with champagne (in France) or marsala wine (in Italy, where it’s called zabaglione). But for this alcohol-free version, I used orange juice. And even though orange juice doesn’t have the same fiziness as champagne, it still provides a tangy lightness that perfectly compliments the rich, underlying flavour here. 

And I was surprised to find the orange taste was actually very subtle, still allowing that soft creamy effect to be center stage.

There are two ways of serving a Sabayon. For the first, you simply spoon the Sabayon sauce on top of your fresh fruits and voila! For the second, you add a sprinkle of icing sugar on top and place the Sabayon with fruits under the broiler (or use a blow torch) to get a slight caramelization all around (in this version, some people like to call it a “fruit gratin”).

And although this makes for such a light and elegant dessert on its own, I can picture it being even better served on top of a slice of pound cake.

Well, I guess I’ll just have to make it again now….

My cooking notes:

• Be creative with the fruits! Fresh, seasonal berries (such as strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries) are perfect in a Sabayon. But there are so many fruits that are just as delicious in this dish, especially fleshy fruits: peaches and apricots (it creates a peaches and cream feel to it), banana and kiwi, mango and papaya, etc.
• The quality of the eggs goes a long way here; make sure they are fresh!
• When going under the broiler, the Sabayon cream will puff up slightly (and deflate when cooling down) so make sure to choose oven-proof vessels with higher edges (such as bowls, ramekins or glasses) and only fill them to 2/3s (or the Sabayon will overflow in the oven). Here, I have opted for 2 shallow plates (which made for 2 generous dessert portions), but this recipe works well with 4 individual ramekins/bowls too.
• Sabayon is a warm dessert, so you should make it just before serving

Berries with Orange Sabayon

Print Recipe

Serves: 4 ramekins Prep Time: 10 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

1 orange (ideally organic)
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp sugar (85g)
2 eggs (whole)
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup whipping cream (12cl) 
1/4 cup icing sugar (+ a little more for dusting)(25g)
500g berries

Instructions

For the Sabayon:

Wash, zest and juice the orange – set the juice and zest aside.

(With an electric beater or by hand) Whip the whipping cream and the icing sugar, until a firm peak forms.

In a separate bowl (heat-proof bowl), whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, orange juice and zest. Slowly add in the sugar, whisking continuously until the mixture starts to foam.

Place the bowl into a stove-top bain-marie (double boiler), and keep whisking until the mixture doubles (or even triples) in volume and reaches a creamy consistency (this takes 2 to 3 minutes). Make sure the consistency is creamy enough (it should coat the whisk) as this means the eggs are cooked properly.

Remove from the heat and keep whisking to bring the sabayon down to room temperature (this takes 3 to 4 additional minutes). Once at room temperature, gently fold in the whipped cream with a rubber spatula.

For serving:

Wash and dry the berries. Chop them if needed (ie. strawberries). Scatter them evenly on the bottom of your serving vessels and gently pour the sabayon on top.

Sprinkle with a light dusting of icing sugar, and place under the broiler for 30 seconds to 2 minutes (depending on the power of your broiler) until you get a light golden hue. If you have a torch blower, this will work great too.

Serve immediately.

If you try this Orange Sabayon recipe let me know! Leave a comment or share a photo using #pardonyourfrench on Instagram.

Bon Appétit!

The post Berries with Orange Sabayon appeared first on Pardon Your French.