Brown butter & orange gateau nantais

The gateau nantais is an almond & rum pound cake from Nantes in France that is the very cake definition of looks can be deceiving. The simple looking cake has a luxurious texture thanks to the almonds and the rum keeps it moist and tender for several days. I have made variations on what is a beautiful “blank canvas cake” using various liquids (amaretto, chartreuse, limoncello, amaro, grappa and calvados to name just a few), but this one is an autumn favourite. The caramelised orange peel, cloves and brown butter add depth and complexity to the flavour of the rum.

Gateau nantais with brown butter & caramelised orange

Makes one 20cm cake

150g butter

Pared zest of 1/2 orange

4 cloves

3 eggs

150g sugar

125g almond flour

40g flour

30 g rum

1/2 teaspoon salt

Soak

2 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons orange juice

Icing

135g icing sugar

2 tablespoons dark rum

1 tablespoon orange juice

Preheat oven to 160C.

Butter an 20cm cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Add the butter to a medium saucepan and melt over low heat. Turn the heat up to medium and cook the butter until the milk solids turn golden brown and the butter smells like hazelnuts. Remove from heat and infuse with the pared zest of 1/2 orange and 4 cloves for 20 minutes.

Pass the butter through a fine-mesh sieve into the bowl of a stand mixer and cool until solid.

Beat the solidified brown butter with the sugar until fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Gently fold in the flour, almond flour, salt and rum.

Pour into prepared cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.

Whisk together orange juice and rum and brush over the surface of the warm cake, then allow to cool completely.

Remove the cake from the pan and place on a serving platter. Make the icing with the icing sugar, rum and orange juice and spread evenly over the surface of the cake. Let harden for at least one hour before serving.