Thanksgiving is the perfect time to celebrate the abundance of Canadian produce and to share it with others through family recipes. Anita Stewart, University of Guelph’s Food Laureate, and the Food Institute are pleased to share dessert inspiration from Anita’s most recent book, Anita Stewart’s CANADA: The Food, The Recipes, The Stories.

While the recipe originates beyond Canadian landscapes, it is truly Canadian in it’s familiar story: traditions arriving through immigration. This recipe is also a great way to celebrate Canadian ingredients and research. At the University of Guelph, research on food and agriculture helps make food production in Canada, and around the world, more efficient, safe, sustainable, and of course more delicious.

Apple Gateau Basque

The story begins in southwest France, near St Jean-de-Luz, where Roger Dufau watched his Basque amachi (grandmother) bake gâteau Basque in the sand. She’d light a fire, heat the sand so it was evenly hot and then bake the cake slowly.   Now the owner of Elora’s Drew House, he continues to bake this fabulous cake and has passed along the recipe to his nephew Eric who has a bakery in Guelph.

There is enough dough for three large gateaux but the utter beauty of this recipe is that one can divide it into thirds, use the first and refrigerate the remainder, tightly wrapped for up to a week.   While Roger sometimes uses fruit sugar for the pastry, he prefers the coarser crystallized sugar or even turbinado sugar. The eggs, in total, should measure 1 1/4 cups (300 mL), hence the approximate measure for eggs yolks. 

To read the rest of the recipe, download printable version of Anita Stewart’s Apple Gateau Basque: Apple Gateau Basque

Low-ink version: Apple Gateau Basque Low-Ink