Household cake (Gâteau de ménage)


Household cake (Gâteau de ménage)
A traditional recipe from Franche-comté, it's a flat round kind of brioche, covered with an egg cream called "Goumeau".
523 K 3.8/5 (157 reviews)
Grade this recipe:
Keywords:
Last modified on: June 15th 2020
For this recipe: Comment Send to a friend Ask me a question Follow Printable Diaporama
For 2 cakes, you will need:

Change these quantities to make:
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 35 min.
Resting: 3 hours
Cooking: 25 min.
All in all: 3 hours 60 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - ⌛ 5 min.
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 1
Warm 50 ml milk, then pour into the bowl of a mixer with 50 ml liquid cream and 30 g caster sugar.

Add 250 g flour, 10 g yeast and 2 eggs.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 5 min.
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 2
Start the mixer at low speed until mixture is homogeneous.

Turn the speed up a little, then add 130 g butter a little at a time.

Continue mixing for a few minutes until the mixture is homogeneous.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 2 hours
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 3
Gather up the dough, and put under a damp tea-towel in a warm place for about 2 hours.

Stage 4 - ⌛ 10 min.
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 4
Meanwhile, prepare the cream:

In a bowl mix 50 g caster sugar, 10 g vanilla sugar, 3 egg yolks and 200 ml cream.

Stage 5
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 5
Check that the dough has about doubled in size.

Stage 6 - ⌛ 3 min.
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 6
Tip onto floured working surface, and divide in two.

Stage 7 - ⌛ 5 min.
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 7
Put each half into a pie dish, mould or tin.

Stage 8 - ⌛ 1 hour
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 8
And with your hand (dusted with flour to avoid sticking), spread dough evenly over the dish.

Cover with a plastic sheet and leave to rise for one hour.

Stage 9
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 9
At the end of this time, preheat oven to 200°C or 392°F.

Stage 10 - ⌛ 3 min.
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 10
With a tablespoon (dusted with flour to avoid sticking), create a kind of hollow in the centre of the pie to receive the cream filling.

Stage 11 - ⌛ 3 min.
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 11
Pour half of the cream in the centre of each cake, and put in the oven without delay.

Stage 12 - ⌛ 25 min.
Household cake (Gâteau de ménage) : Stage 12
Remove from the oven when the cake is golden brown, after about 25 minutes.
Remarks
The domestic cake or "goumeau cake" goes dry rapidly, so best eaten on the day it's made.

Unfortunately it's getting difficult to find a good household cake, even in its region of origin,the Haut-Doubs. By "good", I mean: fresh-baked that day, light, not just sweetened in a hurry, but with a true cream. It's a great pity that bakers from Franche-comté are allowing this traditional recipe to be forgotten.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe60 RDI=20 %330 RDI=30 %220 RDI=30 %3,370 RDI=170 %14,120 RDI: 170 %
Per 100 g6 RDI=2 %40 RDI=3 %20 RDI=4 %360 RDI=20 %1,490 RDI: 20 %
Per cake30 RDI=10 %170 RDI=20 %110 RDI=20 %1,690 RDI=80 %7,060 RDI: 80 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman
Possible allergens in this recipe: Gluten, milk, egg
How much will it cost?
  • For 2 cakes : 3.35 €
  • Per cake : 1.70 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Other recipes you may also like
How to cook Morteau sausage well
How to cook Morteau sausage well
This is, in my opinion, the best smoked sausage. You can cook it in a number of ways, here are three of the best known.
November 15th 20182.83 M 23.4 40 min.
Home-made terrine of foie gras
Home-made terrine of foie gras
Preparing your own home-made foie gras from raw is immensively satisfying: good quality liver and a simply amazing flavour – much better than anything you can buy. This recipe is a bit tricky, but quite within everyone's grasp, as long as you follow the 3 most delicate stages carefully. These are, in order: de-veining the liver, seasoning and cooking. As usual, I have explained every stage of the recipe in full, with photos to help you.
December 16th 20245.32 M 74.2 4 days 15 hours 50 min.
French baguettes
French baguettes
This classic of French baking is rather different from the recipe for leavened bread, it's a question of making a good crust and light crumb along the whole length. To succeed, you should know that there are two secrets: water first of all (much more than for normal bread), and the working of the dough, which is also very different.
October 24th 20171.11 M 364.7 5 hours 6 min.
Little vanilla, clementine and chestnut verrines
Little vanilla, clementine and chestnut verrines
This is a fresh-flavoured verrine with 3 different flavoured layers: vanilla panna cotta, clementine and chestnut mousse.
December 11th 2022198 K 13.5 25 min.
Nonettes
Nonettes
Nonettes are small, jam-filled cakes from a bygone age. They originated in Dijon, where they were made by nuns (hence the name, which means "little nun" in French). The traditional version is closer to the French "pain d'épices", but this recipe has a more of a citrus flavour, made with marmalade.
June 2nd 2015108 K4.4 1 hour 50 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2026-01-25)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
The 2 comments already posted on this recipe
  • There is no salt in this recipe?
    Posted by jh november 17th 2011 at 09:38 n° 2
  • I never says when or where to add the SALT????
    Posted by Cin november 16th 2011 at 19:51 n° 1

Follow this recipe (as 5 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page