Basque Cream and Cherry Tart

The pastel vasco is a symbol of Basqueness every bit as much as the txapela or games of jai alai. Mark Kurlansky devotes a whole chapter to it in his The Basque History of the World. The sweet, Kurlansky notes, was likely created in the eighteenth century, when it was known as bistochak and was rather breadlike. While enjoyed on both sides of the border, the tart is actually more of a cult (and a little bit tastier) on the French side, where it’s called gâteau