Gâche vendéenne

Appearance & taste

The pastry is oval, has a fine golden-brown crust and is scored lengthwise on top; in the middle of the cut the crust is lighter, and darker around it. A piece weighs at least 300 g. The crumb is dense and compact, unlike the much airier brioche from the Vendée. In the mouth the gâche is soft and melting, with a milky taste.

Production

The dough contains at least 42 % flour from bread wheat of French types 45, 55 or 65, at least 10 % each of fresh eggs or fresh liquid whole egg, butter with at least 82 % fat, and sugar, as well as at least 5 % cream with at least 30 % fat. Added to this are pre-ferment or fermented dough, at least 2 % fresh baker’s yeast and 0.8 to 1 % sea salt; milk and water make up at most 10 %. Alcohol of at least 40 % vol and vanilla and orange-blossom flavouring are also permitted; flour improvers are not.

The dough is kneaded slowly. To start fermentation by lactic acid bacteria, leftover dough from the bakery’s own production is set with baker’s yeast. The dough rises twice: first between kneading and shaping, then as a shaped dough piece until baking, so that it gets its typical scoring. With direct dough making it rises for at least 4 hours, with controlled dough making, partly in the cold room, for up to 24 hours.

It is made and packed only in the area. Within two and a half hours of baking, including the cooling time, the gâche is put into an unperforated bag so that it does not dry out and keeps its buttery, creamy aroma.

Origin & history

The area covers the department of Vendée, the part of the departments of Loire-Atlantique and Maine-et-Loire south of the Loire, the western part of Deux-Sèvres and the northern part of Charente-Maritime. It corresponds to the traditional production area with many bakeries that offer the pastry under this name.

The gâche developed from the cakes that were baked in every household in the Vendée for major feast days: the Easter cake “Pacaude” and the wedding cake. According to the specification, this tradition goes back to the 19th century or further. The pacaude was set on Good Friday, baked on Holy Saturday and eaten after Easter Mass. Cream went into the dough because a lot of milk has always been produced in the Vendée and an especially rich pastry was meant to be served at religious feasts. From 1920 the bakers in the countryside took over its production; today the gâche is available all year round, including outside the region. Jean Pierre Bertrand explains the origin of the word “gâche” in his book “Pains et gâteaux traditionnels de Vendée” (1999).