Cream gâteau basque

Make the dough at least an hour or two before working it.

The ingredients you need are the first ones: from flour to rum; the rest will be for the crème pâtissière.

First whisk the liquid ingredients (soft butter, eggs, rum) with the sugar, then add all at once the flour with the baking powder folded in (sift the flour and baking powder together so the powder is well mixed in).

It should form a supple ball like in the photo opposite. If not, add a little more flour if it seems too soft, or a little water or butter if it seems too firm. Depending on the size of the eggs or the spoon, it may need one or two tbsp of flour more or less.

Put the ball in the fridge.

Make the crème pâtissière while the dough is in the fridge.

Bring the milk to the boil.

Mix the egg with the sugar, add the flour and carry on mixing.

Very gently pour the milk onto this mixture, transfer it to a saucepan and cook for 4 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Use a “magic whisk” to avoid lumps forming.

Let the crème pâtissière cool.

Take the dough out of the fridge and split it in two. One part should be a little bigger — it will line the base of the dish and come slightly up the sides. The top one is simply laid over the filling.

On a floured surface, roll the dough out fairly thinly, as the baking powder will make the cake rise and could leave it dry if you keep it too thick (especially as, if you’ve followed my proportions, we haven’t used much butter ^^).

Lay it in a buttered tin, letting it overhang. You can use a tart tin or a sponge tin.

Roll out the second piece on the work surface, flouring it again.

Before laying the second piece on, fill the tart with the crème pâtissière. Spread it well all over.

If you like, you can roll two pieces of dough to make the Basque symbol.

Bake for 40 minutes at 160 °C.