As legend has it, this recipe was found written in Old French on a XVth Century parchment discovered during work in 1969 in a former monastery in the municipality of La Mazière-aux-Bons-Hommes, in the canton of Crocq. A facsimile of this parchment is now on display in the Tourist Office at Crocq. André Lacombe, president of the Pâtissiers de la Creuse organised a small contest among his peers to revive the recipe. M. Langlade, pastrycook of Crocq, came up with the winning formula, still a closely guarded secret known only by 31 people. It is now the speciality of the départment and has been a real commercial success: every year more than 160 000 cakes of 320 gr are produced in the only Creusois pastries with the label “Le Creusois”.
Cooking time: 20 mins | Serves: 6
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Preheat the oven to 160°C. Oil and 8″ cake pan and dust with flour In a medium bowl sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and blend together very well. Add hazelnuts. In a dry bowl whisk egg whites until they form soft peaks: do not overbeat! Combine beaten egg whites gently with dry ingredients. Pour mixture into prepared cake pan and bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for at least 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and let cool further, then sift the confectioner’s sugar over the top. Slice and serve. |