Gateau de Savoie Cake Recipe
I can’t believe I didn’t share this in my November update! Last month, I used this Savoie cake recipe to make a dessert to take to our monthly wine club dinner. It’s the first time that I’ve baked at home in a long time, and I was SO thrilled at how it came out! I made it again this weekend for the December wine dinner, and I had even more time to ensure that it turned out perfectly. If you’re looking for a relatively easy cake recipe that will impress your guests, I can definitely recommend this vanilla sponge cake from the Savoy region of France!
This is the second French recipe I’ve tried to recreate at home after our long trips to France. I’m really proud of that! One of the things I really love about France is how different the regional specialties can be. I’m really thinking that I want to try and recreate the gateau Basque or some of the traditional pastries we’ve tried in Bordeaux next.
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Where is Gateau de Savoie from?
I first discovered the Savoie cake while we were visiting Annecy, which is in the Savoie region of France. Annecy is near the French-Swiss border and located in the shadow of the Alps. It turns out that its been a regional dessert since the 14th century! (And, I’ve rarely seen it outside of the Savoie region of France!) The Savoie cake predates France (as we know it today) and originated during the time when Savoy included parts of both France and the Piedmont region of Italy. We were able to regularly find the Savoie cake at boulangeries in Annecy, but I can’t say that we ever saw it during our trip to Piedmont earlier this year!
One of the things that I love about this cake is that it is not overly sweet. It’s perfectly balanced, and when made correctly, it’s very light. It’s not a dense dessert. Sometimes I leave it plain, sometimes I dust it with powdered sugar. It would also pair really well with summer fruits. I love how people always expect it to be dense like a pound cake and are surprise by the “light as feather” texture, which Savoie cake is famous for!
The other thing I love about the Savoie cake is that it has a relatively short shopping list. You may have most of this on hand, so it’s something that is easy to throw together in a pinch. Trust me, not at all French pastry recipes are this simple!
Gateau de Savoie
Ingredients
- 285 grams butter unsalted
- 2 grams vanilla powder
- 465 grams egg whites
- 570 grams raw brown sugar cane
- 4 grams salt
- 330 grams flour all purpose, sifted
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar if desired
Instructions
- Melt butter and vanilla powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Set aside when completely melted.
- Preheat over to 355 degrees F.
- Whisk egg whites, 170 grams of brown sugar, and salt until medium peaks form. (At least 3 minutes on high.) Mixture should be fully combined and pale yellow.
- Continue to whisk on high, add remaining brown sugar a couple tablespoons at a time until fully combined and stiff peaks form.
- Fold in part of the sugar mixture with the melted butter using spatula. Mix until combined but do not over mix.
- Fold in flour to the remaining sugar mixture in thirds. Do not overmix.
- Fold in butter to flour and sugar mixture. Do not overmix.
- Grease cake mold with butter and cover with brown sugar. Add cake batter to greased mold slowly and ensure that batter is evenly distributed.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Bake for an additional 15 minutes using convection. Check cake for doneness using a knife. (Knife should come out clean.)
- Set cake mold on wire rack and allow to cook completely before dislodging cake.
- Dust with sifted powdered sugar if desired.
Tips for Making a Savoie Cake at Home
While I love the mini traditional Savoie cake molds, I didn’t have them nor did I have time to order them. I headed to my nearest Sur La Table, and I opted to buy a Nordicware Braided Bundt Cake mold. Ultimately, I chose this specific mold because it reminded me most of the traditional Savoie mold, which has an element of movement to it. I love this cake mold because of its weight. It cooks very evenly and cakes release easily from it.
You Probably Aren’t Whisking Your Egg Whites Enough
The first time I made this Savoy sponge cake, I didn’t realized how long it would take to correctly whip the egg whites to create a stiff batter. You may feel like you are whisking them for too long, but it probably isn’t long enough. I like to start my Kitchenaid mixer off on speed 2 and increase it up to 8 and just let it run until the batter is stiff. You should have stiff peaks where the batter completely holds it shape before you start mixing in the flour. It should be a workout to fold the flour into the mixture!
If your batter does not thicken up, there are two things you might have done wrong:
- You might not have separated your egg whites well enough. Sometimes a little bit of egg yolk can prevent batter from thickening.
- You might have added your sugar too soon. This is where I’m telling you to overmix the first part of the matter. It should be very pale yellow and thick before you start adding the additional sugar. When you add the second part of the sugar, add it slowly and let it fully mix. Then – mix it until it becomes very stiff.
Less is More
When it comes to serving this sponge cake, I tend to think less is more. The beauty of the cake mold means that it can stand on its own without any decoration. If you’ve greased and sugared the cake mold well, the sugar will caramelize beautifully. (This is another place where it will feel like you’re doing too much. It probably isn’t enough!)
Ultimately, I serve it on a dinner plate and call it a day. It transports easily, cleans up easily, and makes it really easy to serve.
