The bad thing about a beach vacation is coming back to The Real World. The good thing is that I can now eschew any swimsuit dieting that was taking place (not that I was really doing any dieting, lezbereal) and eat cake for breakfast again.
And not just any cake – a gâteau Breton, the most buttery, shortbread-like concoction filled with Nutella because hey, if we’re going all out, we’re going all out.
Ironically, I never ate a Breton cake while in France; they seem to have transplanted themselves to the United States while skipping over the rest of France. But I’m glad that happened because it allowed me to learn about the regional pastry and come up with my own recipe that combines the best of both worlds – butter-filled French desserts and chocolate-filled American obsessions.
This Nutella gâteau Breton is, like most Breton cakes, very easy to make – two layers of shortbread dough filled anything you want. Traditional cakes use jam or fruit, but in the height of January and the fact that it’s actually raining now, I opted for something in-season and that doesn’t make me leave the house. And of course, I always have a bottle of Nutella on hand for exact circumstances like these.
Whether it’s a rainy day in, a cake-for-breakfast type morning, or one of those times where you just need to listen to the new Future mixtape on repeat and sing, “wicked, wicked, wicked, wicked” when your cake comes out of the oven, the Nutella gâteau Breton has you covered.
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Large pinch flaky sea salt
- 8.5 ounces good-quality butter, room temperature (I used Kerrygold)
- 6 large egg yolks
- Zest from one blood orange
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup Nutella
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and mix until mixture resembles bread crumbs.
- Add 5 egg yolks, orange zest, and vanilla and mix until it comes together as a dough. Divide in half, form into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour or until firm.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
- On a Silpat roll one of the dough halves into an 8-inch circle – use a bit of flour if the dough is too sticky. Press it into the prepared pan.
- Using a small offset spatula, spread the Nutella over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border from the edge.
- Roll the second piece of dough into an 8-inch circle and transfer to cake pan, pressing around outside edge to stick the pieces together and seal in the Nutella.
- In a small bowl, combine remaining egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water and beat lightly. Brush over top of cake, then use a fork to score a crisscross pattern into the dough. Bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes (cover with foil if cake is browning too quickly). Cool in pan 15 minutes. Flip onto a plate, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
This looks really good! I’m a sucker for Nutella!! I would have never thought to pair it with orange though. I have to give this a try!
It’s definitely an unusual combo but I’m telling you it works!
This looks amazing! Love how easy it comes together!
Totally!!
Cake for breakfast sounds amazing!! And I’ll take a few 🙂
Right, can’t go wrong!