The JournalRecipe
Gâteau de Savoie, the Maison Bouvier recipe
Light, airy, golden just as it should be and simply dusted with icing sugar. Gâteau de Savoie is one of those recipes that stand the test of time. Maison Bouvier shares its own version, lifted with a touch of lime and a hint of ginger.
A recipe born in Savoie
The story of gâteau de Savoie goes back to 1358, in Chambéry, when Savoie was not yet part of France.
That year, Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy, welcomed Charles IV of Luxembourg to his table. For the occasion, he asked his pastry chef, Pierre de Yenne, to create a cake “as light as a feather”.
To achieve it, the pastry chef patiently beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale, before folding in the stiffly whisked egg whites and the flour. The baking, too, had to be gentle: the mixture is said to have been placed in a wooden dish, a poor conductor of heat, so that the cake could bake slowly and keep all its lightness.
Gâteau de Savoie was born.
Centuries later, its airy texture remains its signature. And at Maison Bouvier, we make a slightly reimagined version…
The Maison Bouvier version
In our kitchens, we remain true to what makes gâteau de Savoie so distinctive: its lightness and its airy texture.
To the traditional recipe we simply add the zest of a lime and a hint of ginger, which bring a touch of freshness and character.
Fresh from the oven, a veil of icing sugar is all it takes to finish the cake.
And then comes the best moment: cutting the first slice and discovering its light, tender crumb.
The recipe
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 250 g sugar
- 100 g flour
- 35 g potato starch
- 10 g cornflour
- 8 eggs
- 1 lime
- 1 pinch of ground ginger
- Icing sugar, to finish
Method
- Beat the egg yolks with 150 g of the sugar until pale and foamy.
- Stir in the flour, cornflour, potato starch, the finely grated lime zest and the pinch of ginger.
- Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks with the remaining 100 g of sugar.
- Gently fold half of the whites into the first mixture, then gradually add the rest.
- Butter and sugar the tin, pour in the mixture, then bake for 20 minutes at 170 °C.
- Once the cake has cooled, finish with a light veil of icing sugar.
All that remains is to enjoy it!
