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.

So as soon as I was back in my kitchen in Canada, I started to study and compare recipes for it, recalled my memories from Lille, and developed this recipe for making easy Merveilleux at home – which includes small crisp meringue circles with the simplest chocolate cream and chocolate shavings. A simple recipe taken step-by-step to make these authentic, mouth-watering pastries from Flanders.

The story goes, the original name of this pastry was “tête-de-nègre”- meaning, in a very politically incorrect manner, “negro head”. For obvious reasons, this inappropriate name is now avoided and replaced by “Arlequin”, “Boule Choco”, or more commonly “Merveilleux” (meaning, “marvellous” in French).

Also very famous in Belgium, the typical Merveilleux is made of meringues covered in plain whipped cream, surrounded with chocolate shards and topped with a Maraschino cherry. The French variation (the one we’re doing here) is covered in chocolate cream and covered entirely with chocolate shards (and no cherry) – which makes it my personal favorite (more chocolate, and no Marashino cherry – which I am not fond of).

A Merveilleux is a flawless marriage of textures: crispy-melt-in-your-mouth meringues wrapped in fluffy chocolate cream and covered in crunchy chocolate shards.

Another thing I love about them (and why they’re so great to make at home): Merveilleux don’t need to look perfect – in fact, they should look rather rustic with a rocky surface and messy chocolate shards all over. So you don’t need to stress about your pastries being uniform and perfect. I actually think they look better when they are all unique (as long as the core components are present: two sandwiched meringues with chocolate cream).

I think they are great served in cupcake liners (they make for great hand-held desserts) or you can serve them on a plate, with a fork or a spoon. But beware, they get scrumptiously messy when eaten!

Cooking notes :

• Tips for the meringues: The use of an electric beater is strongly recommended (faster and much less tiring than by hand). Take the eggs out of the fridge at least 15 minutes before you start working with them. Make sure absolutely no egg yolk is left in the whites. Beat the whites all the way to a firm peak before you start adding the sugar.
• Tips for the chocolate shards: Use a good-quality dark or unsweetened chocolate (milk chocolate tends to melt easier and will not hold a good shape as shards). Do not rush the melting process, take it slow or the chocolate will separate.
• Tips for the whipped cream: Place the bowl and whisk(s) in the freezer 30 minutes before you start making the whipped cream.
• When all 3 of your components (meringues, chocolate shards and whipped cream) are ready to be assembled, work quickly to assemble them and place all the Merveilleux in the fridge as you go, before serving.

Merveilleux (Meringue and Chocolate Cream Sandwich Pastries)

Print Recipe

Serves: 12 Merveilleux Prep Time: 40 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 4.0/5

( 17 voted )

Ingredients

For the meringues (makes 24 small meringues):
½ tsp salt
4 egg whites
1 1/4 cup (250g) sugar

For the chocolate shards:
200g dark (70%) or unsweetened chocolate, melted 

For the chocolate whipped cream:
1 ¾ cup (400ml) whipping cream(35%MF)
200g unsweetened chocolate, melted

Instructions

Step 1 – Make the meringues (you can make them the day before, and keep them in an airtight container). Take the eggs out of the fridge at least 15 minutes before you start working with them. Pre-heat your oven to 250F (120C) and prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the salt and egg whites to a firm peak. Keep beating and slowly sprinkle in the sugar, in 3 additions, until sugar dissolves (the peaks should still be stiff).

Transfer to a large piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle. Form rows of 1 ½ inch-circles (3.75cm) of meringues onto lined baking sheets, leaving a 1 inch space between them. Bake for 1 hour, or until the meringues are dry and peel off easily from the parchment paper. Turn the oven off, and leave to cool (in the oven) for 30 extra minutes. Unpeel all the meringues from the parchment paper and set aside.

Step 2 – Make the chocolate shards. Gently melt the chocolate over a bain-marie or in a microwave (stopping and stirring every 20 seconds).

Place a large sheet of foil (at least 16 inches long) onto a large baking sheet or large cutting board. Pour the melted chocolate all over and spread it out to a very thin layer (as thin as you can) using an offset spatula, leaving an ½ inch (1.25cm) border all around. Chill for 2 hours.

To make shards, unpeel the chocolate layer from the sheet of foil and break it into tiny pieces. Transfer to a plate and chill until you need them.

Step 3 – Make the chocolate whipped cream. Place the bowl and whisk(s) in the freezer 30 minutes before you start making the whipped cream. Gently melt the chocolate over bain-marie or in a microwave (stopping and stirring every 20 seconds). Whisk the cream to a medium-firm peak and slowly pour in the melted chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate is just incorporated and the cream is light-brown and fluffy.

Step 4 – Assemble the Merveilleux. Grab 2 small meringues; drop a large dollop of chocolate whipped cream on top of one and sandwich with the other meringue (face down). Using a spoon or offset spatula, spread more cream on the outside and the top of the sandwiched meringues to cover them all over (leave the bottom cream-free). Sprinkle and roll in chocolate shards.

Place in a cupcake liner or onto a serving plate, and chill before serving. Repeat to build the other Merveilleux. If the chocolate whipped cream softens after a while, place it in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Merveilleux are best eaten within 1 hour after assembling (the meringues tend to soften quickly once covered with cream). 

If you try this Merveilleux (Meringue and Chocolate Cream Sandwich Pastries) recipe, let me know!  Leave a comment or share a photo on Instagram tagging @pardonyourfrench or using #pardonyourfrench. I’d love to see what you come up with.  

Bon Appétit!

The base recipe for the meringues is adapted from Ricardo. 

The post Merveilleux (Meringue and Chocolate Cream Sandwich Pastries) appeared first on Pardon Your French.