Basque Cake with Pastry Cream and Cherries

Name: Basque Cake with Pastry Cream and Cherries
Ingredients: 400 g flour; 200 g butter; 150 g sugar; 1 egg + 1 egg white; 1 tsp baking powder; zest of half a lemon; 1 egg yolk for brushing; 700 ml milk; 200 g sugar; 60 g flour; 5 egg yolks; 1 packet vanilla sugar; zest of half a lemon; 200 g cherries (frozen or fresh)

Basque cake is a filled, closed-top pie that originates from sunny Spain. It was originally made with a crumbly shortcrust pastry and a sweet cherry filling; over time, pastry cream was added as well. I swapped the sweet cherries for sour cherries and added lemon zest to both the dough and the cream for extra fragrance. The cake comes out quite large, very satisfying, and sweet, with a lovely vanilla-lemon note — perfect alongside tea or coffee.

Ingredients:

Dough:
400 g flour
200 g butter
150 g sugar
1 egg + 1 egg white
1 tsp baking powder
zest of half a lemon
1 egg yolk for brushing
Cream:
700 ml milk
200 g sugar
60 g flour
5 egg yolks
1 packet vanilla sugar
zest of half a lemon
200 g cherries (frozen or fresh)

How to cook Basque cake with pastry cream and cherries

Zest the lemon by grating it on a fine grater, being careful not to grate into the white pith.

Make the cream. Thoroughly mix together the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar, and half of the lemon zest.

Add the flour and mix thoroughly until smooth.

Warm the milk until it is just warm to the touch. Pour a little of the milk into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly.

Pour in the rest of the milk, stir to combine, and place over heat.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened considerably. The pastry cream is ready.

Make the dough. Beat the softened butter together with the sugar until well combined.

Add the remaining half of the lemon zest, the egg, and the egg white; stir to combine (the mixture does not need to be perfectly smooth).

Add the baking powder and the flour in portions, stirring with a spoon after each addition.

Bring the dough together with your hands into a ball.

Assemble the cake. Pinch off about one quarter of the dough and set it aside. Press the remaining dough into the pan (I used a 22 cm round pan), spreading it evenly across the bottom and pressing it up the sides to form tall sides about 6–7 cm high.

If the cherries were frozen, thaw them first and squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. Spread about half of the cream over the dough in the pan, then arrange the cherries on top.

Spread the second half of the cream on top and smooth it out.

Roll the reserved piece of dough out into a circle slightly larger than the pan (it works best to roll it out on a sheet of parchment paper). Use the parchment to flip the circle onto the top of the pie and press the edges together to seal.

Use any scraps of dough left around the edges to make decorations for the top of the pie. I rolled out the scraps, cut out small circles using a bottle cap, and arranged them across the surface.

Mix the egg yolk with a teaspoon of water, then brush the mixture over the surface of the pie. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 45–50 minutes.