Name: Gâteau Pithiviers
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 2 egg yolks; tiny pinch of salt; 1 egg, beaten to mix with ½ tsp salt (for glaze); puff pastry made with 6 oz/½ cups/175 g flour, 6 oz/¾ cup/175 g butter, pinch of salt, and 2½ oz/⅓ cup/75 ml ice water, more if needed; granulated sugar (for sprinkling); 2 oz/⅓ cup/60 g sugar; 2 oz/¼ cup/60 g unsalted butter, softened; 2 fl oz/¼ cup/60 ml heavy/double cream, whipped until it holds a soft peak; 4 oz/¾ cup/125 g whole blanched almonds

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Great Cooks and Their Recipes

By Anne Willan

Published 1977

About

The origins of puff pastry are obscure; it is thought to have come from Italy or Spain where it may have been inspired by the Arab skill with sweet pastries (their wafer-thin pastry is made quite differently, however). Puff pastry was familiar to La Varenne, who made it more or less by the classic method, and Carême was a master at it, famous for his lightness of hand. He lists a dozen variations of the puff pastry gâteau pithiviers, which is still made today. “Turns” refers to the r