The region’s culinary specialities: the Gateau Nantais

A little history: invented around 1820 by a maître fouacier in the Cité des Ducs, the Nantais cake is part of the city’s pastry-making tradition. At the time, the quays of La Fosse and Ile Feydeau were home to the delights of the West Indies: cane sugar, amber rum and bourbon vanilla. This luxurious dessert, served by the mistresses of the house to their guests, eventually fell into oblivion before being revived by the LU cookie factory from 1910 to 1972. Since then, pastry chefs and cooks in Nantes have been inspired by it, adapting it or serving it in its most classic version. It’s a sure bet!

Ingredients (if you’re making the cake for children, you can replace the rum with lemon or orange blossom).
For eight portions, you will need: 200 g sugar, 150 g butter, 60 g flour, 190 g almond powder, 3 eggs, 50 g rum (2/3 brown, 1/3 white).

Preparation: Mix the butter and sugar, and once the butter is whitened, add the flour and almond powder. When the mixture is smooth, pour in the eggs one at a time, then add the rum. Pour into a buttered and floured 26 cm tin and bake for 30 minutes at 185°. Wait at least 30 minutes and cover with icing (a warm mixture of powdered sugar and rum). Tip: Nantais cakes are best baked the day before! Cover with clingfilm after baking, and keep impatient eaters away.