I have been on a SEVERE chocolate craving for a while now.
Truffles, cookies, donuts, brownies, you name it. Soon I realized that I went too far (meaning that my belly was getting out of control) and I needed to kick this chocolate habit.
However, Just as I was about to, I came up with this crazy chocolate dessert idea. This chocolate dessert just isn’t fair! It plays by no rules, AT ALL! This is the heavyweight contender that is ready to knock out any chocolate delicatessen with a single punch.
I mean, I really want to cry!
I can see myself standing in rehab “Hi, I’m Andre, and I am a chocoholic.” Why did you have to show up in my life?
Damn, Damn, Damn James!
So how did this all start? I came up with this while contemplating a style of molten lava cake. Instead of baking a cake half way or inserting a good melted chocolate in the middle of the batter, I wanted to create something where you can taste a moist cakey texture and the give the same effects of a sweet lava filling to go along with it. A hint of citrus breaks up the richness of this dessert and then it is encased inside this insane rich butter-sugar dough fortress that only the worthiest fork or spoon should be allowed to penetrate.
I introduce to you my Fudge Brownie Gateau Basque.
Gateau Basque is a traditional dessert from the Northern Basque region of France. It is also produced in the Southern Basque region of Spain as well. A typical Gateau Basque consists of a type of cake filled with a vanilla custard or crème and some type of berry jam. In the case of style of dessert, the cake is used is a soft shortbread type of dough. In this recipe, I opt for the best of both worlds. I filled this cake styled shortbread with strawberry jam, a citrus orange pastry crème, and a rich fudge brownie batter. Doesn’t that sound sinful? It is then baked in the oven until the crust is golden browned, crispy/flaky textured on the outside and moist on the inside. This dessert is served best warm with a HUGE scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Enjoy! Enough said! I’m hungry! Let’s get into the recipe!
Fudge Brownie Gateau Basque
Dough
- 207g all-purpose flour
- 5g baking powder
- 3g salt
- 130g unsalted butter, softened
- 207g sugar
- 31g egg yolks
- 27g whole eggs
- Zest of one Lemon
- 1ea Vanilla bean split and scraped
- 39g almond flour
- in a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt
- In a mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy, about three min
- Add the yolks, whole eggs, lemon oil and almond oil in the bowl and beat until incorporated
- On low speed gradually mix in the flour mixture and almond flour
- Scrape pastry dough onto work surface and gather into a ball
- Roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate until very firm, at least 3 hours or overnight
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the first disc of dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut desired size circle
- Slide round onto a lightly floured baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 10 min
- Meanwhile, roll the second round to 1/4 inch thick and transfer to a tart pan or ring
- Trim off excess dough from the rim
- Refrigerate until firm, about 10 min
Orange Pastry Cream
- 300g whole milk
- 1ea vanilla bean split and scraped
- 70g granulated sugar
- 81g egg yolks
- 20g whole eggs
- 16g cornstarch
- 16g all-purpose flour
- Zest from one med sized orange
- Bring milk to a simmer with vanilla seeds and pod
- In a bowl mix the yolks, the whole eggs and sugar
- Whisk in the flour, cornstarch and orange zest
- Whisk the hot milk into the mixture
- Return to pot and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly until bubbly and thickened, about 5 min
- Simmer for three more min whisking
- Scrape Pastry Cream in a pan and cover directly with plastic
Rich Brownies
- 73g sweet dark chocolate
- 30g unsweetened chocolate
- 145g unsalted butter
- 100g eggs, room temperature
- 130g granulated sugar
- 1g salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 58g bread flour
- Melt the chocolates and the butter together in a bowl over a pot of hot water (double boiler)
- Mixt the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla together until well blended, but do not whip! Whipping the eggs to a foam creates more leaving, resulting in a more crumbly, less fudgy brownie
- Blend in the chocolate mixture
- sift the flour and fold it in
- Reserve for assembling the Basques
- Note: You can add walnuts if you like.
Additional Filling for Basque: Strawberry Jam
Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Spread the strawberry jam evenly at the bottom of the tart shell
- Next, add the brownie batter
- Top with pastry cream in the tart shell in an even layer
- Cover with the first round of tart dough and gently press to seal the edges
- Brush the tart with egg wash
- Score the top of the dough with a Diamond Shape
- Set tart on baking sheet and bake on the bottom shelf for 20 min
- Rotate and transfer to the upper 2/3rds of the oven and bake for 25 min longer until golden brown on top
- Place on cooling rack
- Serve warm or at room temp
ENJOY!
The Pastry Warden
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making recepe ..dough… and realized it references to add almond and lemon oil but does not have that listed on ingredients..how much to use?
Hey there. Forgive me for the late reply. I rather you use lemon zest. The zest of half a lemon. Please let me know if you need anything else.