Goats. Cheese. Cake.

Our day started on Goats, moved into Cheese- chèvre, of course, and then finished on Cake. Goat’s Cheese Cake.

I welcomed @SabinaCuisina into the Gascon Kitchen a short week ago, fresh from midterms at her culinary institute and ready for a Gascon Spring Break. (thanks to hubby TP!) Sabina was not the first person in the Gascon Kitchen that lives and breathes cheese- goats, sheep or cow! But she is the first person to come who actually tends and milks goats and makes chèvre working with Liz and Peter Mulholland at the lovely Valley View Farms in Topsfield MA. So  I laid out a week for Sabina that was cheese based, with a few Gascon Kitchen extras thrown in. (P.S. check our program page for more info.) What we ended with was a wonderful experiment in making one of my favorite bought pastries and a successful first attempt at making a goat cheese cake called a tourteau.

These are the goats who make the milk,

that Sabine cares for,

that makes Phillipe  uses to make the cheese,

that he sells at the Agen Market,

and we buy to bring home wrapped in pure white paper…

Oops, what that round black ball? Le Marquis Noir de Jahan?

Otherwise known as a Tourteau Fromagé.

The Tourteau Fromagé is a specialty cake of Poitou-Charente region of Southwest France. Found usually in cheese shops, I developed a weakness for the finely textured, barely sweet cake.  Like an Angel Food Cake married to a N.Y. Cheesecake. After just one bite Sabina also fell for the sweet trap and we decided to test the recipe with some of the fresh goat cheese from Phillipe.

Local is as local does. And here in Gascony, you can tell that even our flour, that I buy in one kilo sacks at Pierre’s Boulangerie is a local product. Wearing the Musketeers habit, this is the classic ‘type 55′ all purpose flour used for most baking. EXTREME warning: The extraordinary eggs from my hens account for the extreme yellow color of the interior of the cake just as the extra-high temperature of the oven produces the traditional blackened crust. The contrast of soft tender cake and charcoaled top crust is part of the tourteaux charm. We produced three cakes from the following recipe that we made in small very deep mini-cassoles each holding about 12fl oz or 300ml. So inspired by the courage of the Cadets of Gascony- all for one and one tourteau for all!

Tourteau de Chèvre or a goat.cheese.cake

Preheat oven to 380’C or 530’F.  Yes. HOT! Very HOT!

For the pastry I sued a simple butter short crust.

• 100 gr butter- unsalted
• 200 gr flour- all purpose unbleached
• Salt- pinch
• 1 egg
• Water- as needed

Cut butter into flour and salt with fingertips. Add egg and water. Gather pastry crust into ball. Divide into three. Roll out each third, place into deep rounded molds. Trim. Prick.

Batter:

• 250 gr fresh goats cheese (after draining)
• 175 gr white sugar (125gr for yolks- 50gr for whites)
• 50 ml milk (about a tablespoon)
• 6 eggs, separated
• 60 gr flour
• Splash of vanilla/rum/Armagnac

1. Pass goat cheese through a food mill or ricer.
2. Beat in 125 gr sugar, milk and flour. (I used a whisk.)
3. Whisk egg whites with 50 gr sugar until stiff peaks. (we use a copper bowl and hand whisk in the Gascon Kitchen.)
4. Fold in a large spoonful of whites into the cheese/yolk mixture. Stir well.
5. Fold remaining whites into cheese/yolk batter.
6. Pour into unbaked pastry shells.
7. Place into HOT oven (280’C/530’F) for 10 minutes. The tops will puff up round and start to brown and blacken immediately. Don’t panic!
8. Then turn oven down to 220′C or 425′F for 40 minutes. remove from oven and let cool.

I used 3 small cassoulet bowls holding about 300ml/12oz each. this is what they look like baking. The forward one we slid in 4 minutes after the first two, and it was indeed underdone. but delicious.

The tops popped up while baking but resettled once they were removed from the oven. The pastry adheres to the batter and shrinks away from the sides making it easy to remove from the glazed bowls. The finished cake has a light and rich texture, akin to a rich golden angel food cake, barely sweet and scented of fresh cheese. Although commercially made with fresh cow’s cheese, the goat’s cheese tang makes a delicious difference. When in France make sure to try one from a fromager or make your own version at home. I am making mini ones this weekend for a large Easter gathering. Another golden eggy wonder from the Gascon Kitchen’s healthy hens. Merci to Sabina, TP, Phillipe and sabine and her goats