Breton Butter Cake- United Kingdom #36

Breton Butter Cake- United Kingdom #36

I found this version of a Breton Butter Cake in a magazine. It is a buttery, flaky cake with lots of sugar. This version also uses store-bought frozen white bread dough. The process is very similar to making croissants- butter is folded into the dough, which melts and browns the cake as it bakes. The sugar, and there is a lot, creates crisps, golden bits.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 sticks of cold salted butter
1 lb. frozen white bread dough, thawed
All purpose flour for the work surface
10 T. granulated sugar
1/2 T. salted butter, melted, plus more for the buttering the skillet.

1. Place cold butter between to sheets of parchment paper, pound with a rolling pin to form a 6" square. 
2. Transfer butter square with parchment paper to refrigerator to chill.
3. Roll dough into 12"x8"rectangle on a floured surface.
4. Unwrap chilled butter square, and discard parchment. Place butter square on half of dough rectangle.
5. Sprinkle butter square with 3T. sugar.
6. Fold other half of dough rectangle over butter to opposite side and press to seal edges.
7. Roll filled dough into a 20"x8" rectangle on a floured surface.
8. Fold short ends of dough up and over to meet in the middle of the rectangle. Brush off any excess flour.
9. Fold dough rectangle (10"x8") in half, short end to short end, creating 4 stacked layers.
10. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 20-30 minutes.
11. Unwrap stacked dough and roll into 20"x8" rectangle on a floured surface.
12. Sprinkle with 3T. of sugar and repeat folding process in step 8-10.
13. Repeat rolling and folding dough process a 3rd time with 3 T. sugar. Wrap and chill 20-30 minutes.
14. Butter a 9" cast iron skillet.
15. Roll dough into a 9" circle on a floured surface.
16. Place in prepared skillet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature until slightly puffy, about 45 mins.-1 hour. (May take longer)
17. Preheat oven to 425F.
18. Brush dough with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining 1 T. sugar.
19. Bake until top is golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. 30-45 mins. Tent with aluminum foil if necessary to prevent excessive browning.
20. Let cool, if possible.

Results:This was delicious! Even though there are 20 steps, this is well worth the effort. It actually reads much harder than it is. It does take time to continually chill the butter, however, the actual process is not difficult. I actually made this twice. The first time I burnt it and we had to throw it away. I think the baking time (45 mins.) was too long. Or it could have been the oven I used, not mine. The second cake, I watched the time more closely. I baked it for 30 minutes. It probably needed to bake another 5 minutes. I didn't stick to the exact times for chilling the dough. At one point, we went to the zoo and left the dough chilling for 3 hours. So don't worry if you need to leave it in longer.

Bottom Line: I've definitely put a star by this one! I love croissants and this cake is pretty close to one. The folks who ate it loved it. My son was exhausted and wanted to go to bed. I made him wait for the cake. He grumbled but in the end he said it was definitely worth staying up for. 

Please share this blog with all the butter lovers in your life. Thanks.