A quick Baking Around the World disclaimer before we get into the recipe:

While I have done/will do extensive research for each of the recipes in this series, the recipes are unlikely to be 100% authentic because of differences in ingredient availability, variations within families/regions and multiple other reasons. I'm so sorry if I absolutely butcher your favourite childhood treat (and please let me know in the comments if I have made any unforgiveable errors), but please do give me the benefit of the doubt here- I am just a baker with a serious sweet tooth, trying to broaden her baking (and cultural) horizons through tasty snacks :)

Table of Contents

• Gâteau Creusois: Explained
• Ingredients
• DIY Ground Hazelnuts
• Making Gâteau Creusois
• Final Thoughts
• Recipe
• Sources Used

Gâteau Creusois: Explained

I only came across Gâteau Creusois pretty recently, when my aunt brought a commercial version over from France for us to try. My brother enjoyed it so much that he actually requested a homemade version for his birthday cake this year, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for another Baking Around the World project!

Gâteau Creusois is a meringue-based, hazelnut cake that originated in Creuse, a department in central France. The recipe was discovered in 1969, within the ruins of a local monastery, written on a piece of parchment that dated back to the 15th century. Apparently, the monks used to cook the cake in ceramic tiles known as ‘creuses’ (meaning hollow, or concave), which is likely where the name Gâteau Creusois originated (though it could also come from the name of the department, ‘Creuse’, instead). It is said that the original recipe is a closely guarded secret amongst a select group of pastry chefs, so the modern recipes in circulation are unlikely to be exact replicas of the recipe written on that initial manuscript.

Most Gâteaux Creusois in France tend to be commercial, industrially produced ones (like the one my aunt bought us), with homemade versions being much less commonplace (perhaps because of the aforementioned secretive pastry chefs!). Luckily, there are still multiple recipes online available, so all hope is not lost! You can still make a deliciously rich, soft and tender, hazelnutty Gâteau Creusois at home (which is exactly what I did).

Ingredients

Gâteau Creusois is actually a really simple cake to make— you only need 5 ingredients (or 6, if you want to dust the finished cake with icing sugar, like I did):

• Hazelnuts

You’ll need ground hazelnuts for this recipe. I like to grind them myself— you can find instructions for this below.

• Caster Sugar

Some recipes use icing sugar, but the majority use regular, caster sugar, so that’s what I’ve used here.

• Plain Flour

There’s no raising agent in this cake— the whipped egg whites do all the work, which is what gives it such a rich, almost fudgy texture. Make sure to use plain flour, because self-raising flour contains baking powder.

• Butter

You can use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe— whichever you have on hand. I’ve tried both and both cakes were delicious. Whichever butter you choose to use, it needs to be melted and cooled before you add it to the mixture.

• Egg Whites

The egg whites are whipped separately before being folded into the batter, which helps give the cake lift. You don’t need the yolks for this recipe, so set them aside for another recipe (perhaps an ice cream? You can find my ice cream recipes here!).

DIY Ground Hazelnuts

Whole hazelnuts are usually easier to find in supermarkets than ready-ground hazelnuts, but, luckily, it’s super easy to grind them at home (and it’s much easy to toast the whole nuts than the ground version, so you can get plenty of extra flavour into your Gâteau Creusois!).

You can buy hazelnuts with or without their papery skins (without the skins, they’re often sold as ‘blanched hazelnuts’). Either one is fine, but, if you’re using unblanched hazelnuts (like in the above photo), it’s best to remove the skins for this recipe (which is also very easy— more on that in a sec!).

Start by toasting the nuts. I do this in the airfryer (5 minutes at 180°C), but you can do it in the oven (for the same length of time/at the same temperature), or even in a dry pan over high heat on the hob (though this method doesn’t get the nuts quite as evenly roasty throughout). Once the nuts are toasted, tip them out onto a clean tea towel, ready for the next step.

Don’t skip this toasting step— not only does it significantly improve the hazelnut flavour, it’s also much easier to get the shells off the nuts when they are warm.

To get the skins off the nuts, wrap the clean tea towel around them and rub the whole bundle together between your hands. The friction will cause the skins to rub off the surfaces of the warm nuts and you’ll be left with a pile of the papery skins (like in the above photo), which you can discard or compost.

Don’t worry too much if you can’t get all of the skin off the nuts— it will just add a little extra colour and texture to your cake! Just try to remove as much as you can, because the skins can sometimes be a bit tough.

It’s important to let the nuts cool completely before proceeding to the grinding stage. Nuts release their oils more easily when they are warm, so you run a greater risk of ending up with nut butter, instead of ground nuts, if you try to grind them when they are still hot!

Tip the cooled nuts into a food processor and blitz until they are finely ground (I used a mini food processor for this, so the nuts are more finely ground than they appear in the above photo!). Try to get them quite fine, but don’t worry too much if there are a few slightly larger pieces— again, this will just add texture to the finished cake. Don’t over-blitz them, or you’ll end up with hazelnut butter, even if the nuts were cold when you started!

Making Gâteau Creusois

Now you have your toasted, skinned and grounded hazelnuts, you can get on with making the cake itself! Making a Gâteau Creusois is actually fairly straightforward (it’s nowhere near as finicky as you might expect from the home of pâtisserie!).

Start by preparing the tin. Grease and line an 8-inch, round tin with butter and baking paper and set aside. You’ll also need to preheat the oven to 170°C.

Place the ground hazelnuts, caster sugar and plain flour in a large bowl.

Mix these ingredients together until the hazelnuts are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Add the cooled, melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix in. You should end up with a nutty, paste-like mixture.

In a separate, metal bowl (I used a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, for this part), whisk the egg whites until they have just reached stiff peaks. They should hold their shape, but not be too dry, as this can cause the cake to rise too much and be dry and cakey, rather than dense and rich.

Add a large spoonful of the whipped egg whites to the nut mixture, and stir in vigorously to loosen the mixture.

Add the remaining egg whites and use a large, metal spoon to fold them into the mixture. It’s best to use a metal spoon for this because it can ‘slice’ through the batter more effectively, so that you don’t knock too much air out of the whites as you incorporate them.

Once the egg whites have been completely incorporated and no streaks remain, you should be left with a thick, soft batter, just like in the above photo.

Pour this batter into the tin you prepared earlier.

Then use a knife to level out the surface, so that it bakes evenly.

Place the cake into the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the surface is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

The cake will deflate quite rapidly once it is removed from the oven, but don’t worry— that’s what gives it its fudgy, moreish texture.

Allow the cake to cool for 5-10 minutes in the tin before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Don’t leave the cake for any longer in the tin, because it will start to firm up and stick to the tin as it cools, making it harder to remove neatly (obviously, I speak from experience).

Once the cake is completely cool, you can dust it with a layer of icing sugar. I’m not sure if this is strictly traditional, but it does make it extra pretty (and delicious)!

Serve wedges of the cake as they are, with vanilla custard (apparently a traditional accompaniment), or with whipped cream and berries (not so traditional, but very delicious!). The cake is quite rich, so you won’t need a huge slice!

Final Thoughts

This is a really unassuming cake— it looks like a plain, simple cake layer, but it’s actually a rich, decadent and delicious nutty treat: more like a nutty torte than a cake! It’s also incredibly simple, quick and easy to make, so I think it would make the perfect dessert for a relaxed dinner party or subtly impressive addition to afternoon tea.

The surface of the cake can look a little odd after it has cooled— it’s covered with little holes, almost as if it has been pricked all over with a skewer, which is partly why I decided to dust the whole thing with icing sugar (which is known for covering a multitude of sins). I’m not sure if this is just a defining feature of the cake, or a result of a mistake I’ve made somewhere along the way, but I’m not too bothered— it’s still incredibly delicious!

While it would be easier to buy ground hazelnuts to use for this recipe, I do think that toasting and grind the nuts yourself adds a real hit of extra hazelnut flavour, so I would definitely recommend doing that if you have the time!

Recipe

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Gâteau Creusois

A meringue-based, hazelnut cake from France, this is a super quick and easy, yet surprisingly rich and decadent, bake that makes for a delicious dessert or treat any time of year.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine French

Keyword Cake, Hazelnut, Meringue

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 12

Equipment

• 1 8-inch round cake tin

Ingredients

• 120 g hazelnuts, toasted and finely ground (see Note 1).
• 150 g caster sugar
• 80 g plain flour
• 125 g butter, melted and cooled (see Note 2).
• 4 egg whites
• Icing sugar, for dusting (optional).

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease and line an 8-inch round tin with baking paper and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together the ground hazelnuts, caster sugar and plain flour, until well combined.
• Add the cooled, melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix until you have a nutty, paste-like mixture.
• In a large, metal bowl (I used a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment), whip the egg whites until they have just reached stiff peaks. The whites should hold their shape, but not look too dry.
• Add a large spoonful of the whipped egg whites to the nut mixture and mix in vigorously to loosen the mixture.
• Add the remaining egg whites and fold in, using a large metal spoon, until no streaks remain and you have a thick, even batter.
• Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level out the surface. Place into the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the surface is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool for 5-10 minutes only before removing from the tin and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once cool, dust liberally with icing sugar (if desired) and serve. You can serve the cake plain, or with an accompaniment: vanilla custard is traditional, but a spoonful of whipped cream and some fresh berries is also delicious. The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about 4 days.

Notes

1. To toast/grind the hazelnuts:

Toast the nuts in an oven/airfryer set to 180°C for about 5 minutes, until very golden and smelling super nutty (you can also toast the nuts in a dry pan on the hob, though you won’t get quite as intense a flavour with this method). 

Allow the nuts to cool completely before transferring to a food processor to grind them. Aim for quite a fine grind, but don’t worry if there are some stubborn, larger pieces— they’ll just add texture! Be careful not to over-grind the nuts, or you might end up with hazelnut butter instead.

2. You can use unsalted or salted butter for this recipe— whichever you have on hand.

 

 

Sources Used

Cooking Melangery: French Hazelnut Meringue Cake

Del’s Cooking Twist: French Hazelnut Cake (Creusois)

French Touch: Creusois Cake

SBS Food: Gateaux Creusois (cake from Creuse)

Taste Atlas: Gâteau Creusois

Tourisme Creuse: Gourmet and Local Products

750g: Gäteau Creusois