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Basic cake batter - the French way

Name: Basic cake batter - the French way
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 17 min
Yield: 510 g
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 40 g butter; 120 g egg; 150 g caster sugar; 80 g cream; 120 g flour; 3 g baking powder; 2 g salt

The cake is one of the classic cakes of the pastry world (The frenchs call them "journey cake"), and there are many ways to make it.

Here's a new basic recipe for its dough, into which you can then add the flavors (pistachio, lemon, chocolate, etc.) and ingredients (dried fruit, fresh fruit, etc.) of your choice.

73 K 4.2/5 (6 reviews)599601

Duration

17 min.

Difficulty

Easy

Last modified on: October 30^th 2026

Step by step recipe Ingredients Duration Nutritional facts Cost Comments Support the site ❤️

For 510 g, you will need:

1 40 g butter
2 120 g egg ( How to... )
3 150 g caster sugar
4 80 g cream
5 120 g flour
6 3 g baking powder
7 2 g salt
Total weight: 515 grams

Times for this recipe

Preparation

10 min.

Cooking

7 min.

All in all

17 min.

Preparation 10 min.

Cooking 7 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

Step 1 - ⌛ 7 min.

Basic cake batter - the French way : Step 1

Melt 40 g butter in a small pan on low heat.

Bring to the boil, then wait until it stops boiling and begins to give off a nutty smell (you have just made noisette butter).

Take off the heat and leave to cool until just warm.

Step 2 - ⌛ 2 min.

Basic cake batter - the French way : Step 2

Mix 120 g egg and 150 g caster sugar in a bowl with a whisk.

Step 3 - ⌛ 1 min.

Basic cake batter - the French way : Step 3

Add 80 g cream...

Step 4 - ⌛ 1 min.

Basic cake batter - the French way : Step 4

...and mix again.

Step 5 - ⌛ 2 min.

Basic cake batter - the French way : Step 5

Sieve 120 g flour, 3 g baking powder and 2 g salt together into the mixture.

Step 6 - ⌛ 1 min.

Basic cake batter - the French way : Step 6

Mix again.

Step 7 - ⌛ 2 min.

Basic cake batter - the French way : Step 7

Pour the warm noisette butter into the mixture through a fine strainer.

Step 8 - ⌛ 1 min.

Basic cake batter - the French way : Step 8

Mix one last time.

Step 9

Your cake batter is ready.

You can now add your chosen flavourings (chocolate, pistachio, lemon...), or leave it plain, before pouring it into the tins or moulds.

Step 10

If you want to make a plain cake straight away, pour the dough into a mold and bake for about 40 minutes at 390°F (200°C).

Note: As always with cakes, if you want a nice opening on top when baking, try this very effective trick.

Remarks

If you are using salted butter, omit the salt.

For a plain cake, you can use replace half an ounce (10 g) of the sugar with vanilla sugar.

Keeping: Should be used the same day.

Source: Based on a recipe by Christophe Michalak.

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Nutritional information

	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats	Calories	Energy
Per 100 g	6 g RDI=9 %	47 g RDI=18 %	14 g RDI=19 %	336 kcal RDI=17 %	1,405 kJ RDI=17 %
Whole recipe	28 g RDI=44 %	243 g RDI=92 %	71 g RDI=98 %	1,729 kcal RDI=86 %	7,238 kJ RDI=86 %

Whole recipe

Possible allergens in this recipe: milk, egg, gluten

How much will it cost?

For 510 g

1.25 €

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

Some other recipes using this recipe

Pistachio cake

Here's a loaf-style cake made with a classic batter, flavoured with pistachio (of course), and with a crunchy "macaronade" topping.
59 K 1 hour 55 min.

This recipe uses (among others)