Fiori di Sicilia Pound Cake

There are two recipes that every child in France memorizes in school. One is for a gâteau au yaourt and the other is for this gâteau quatre-quarts, which translates roughly as four-fourths. The principle is much the same as in an American pound cake, which traditionally called for a pound each of butter, flour, sugar, and eggs. In a quatre-quarts, the eggs are weighed first in their shells, and then the butter, flour and sugar are each weighed to match that number. The true difference, however, between these two very similar cakes is in the technique used to make the batter.

When making a pound cake, butter and sugar are creamed together. In the last step, flour is folded in gently and swiftly to keep the crumb delicate. The French have an altogether different approach. For starters, they use melted butter. This coats the flour in fat, preventing the formation of gluten, which leads to a tough cake. Gluten forms when the flour is exposed to the water in egg whites and the stress of mixing. The high fat content in the butter shields the flour from the water in the egg whites and creates a moist batter that requires minimal mixing. It is about as foolproof as a recipe can be, and it lends itself to nearly any adaptation you can imagine. The French add nuts, chocolate, coffee, spices, zest, extracts, crystallized ginger, liqueurs, and floral waters; this version uses a mix of vanilla and fiori di Sicilia, a fragrant citrus extract. A quatre-quarts doesn’t need a glaze but is happy to have one. It is moist but can absorb a syrup. And, like a pound cake, it is partial to fruit.

This cake can be made in a loaf pan, a round pan, or a square one. As it is not so much a recipe but rather a ratio of equal parts, it is easily halved or doubled. The lack of a leavener such as baking powder or baking soda is not a mistake. It is simply not needed, as the eggs provide the lift.

This recipe was excerpted from 'Gateau' by Aleksandra Crapanzano. Buy the full book on Amazon.