Broyés de Poitou

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This recipe is a speciality of the region we lived in in France, Poitou Charentes. You can find them in the region's supermarkets and they can be small, as these are, or be one large biscuit. They're not really biscuits, more of a biscake! Whatever you call them, they're delicious. This is the traditional recipe from a local baker.

Beat together 250g unsalted butter and 250g of sugar till light and creamy. Add a beaten egg and mix together then fold in 500g plain flour with 1 tspn baking powder and 1 tspn salt added and mix together till you get a ball. If you need it, add a few drops of water. It's easier to use a mixer.
Wrap the ball in clingfilm and put in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight, to firm up the dough.

Preheat oven hot - 210C/gas7
Cover 2 baking sheets with baking parchment or silicone sheets.

Take the dough out of the fridge and bring to room temperature.
 Roll out dough and using a 7cm fluted cutter, cut out the biscuits and put them on a baking sheet. Make the traditional pattern on the top [see photo] - I used the edge of a clean ruler.
Make a wash by beating an egg yolk with a little water, and paint the biscuits twice.
Bake for 15 mins till golden. Leave on tray to cool a little as they will still be softish and difficult to handle. They'll firm up when they're cool.

If you want to make one large biscuit, roll the dough out a little more than for the small ones. Using a template cut it into a 16cm round; make the pattern and brush with egg wash. Bake for 20-25 mins till golden.



You can see the pattern on the biscuits. This photo is one my friend took and has kindly let me use.
The biscuits have a crunchy texture and a lovely buttery flavour. You could add some vanilla or almond essence to the mixture, but I prefer to keep them traditional.

Comments

Phil in the Kitchen said…
This is a lovely little treat that I have been known to nibble on occasion despite the amount of butter in it. The smaller biscuits are a lot more convenient but I'm told that the tradition is that it should be larger and broken up with a single blow by the man of the house. I've tried this and failed miserably. Still tastes very good even if it's not broken in the traditional way.
26/10/14 4:47 pm
Snowy said…
Yes Phil,the tradition is to break the big one with a blow, but OH hasn't tried it!
27/10/14 2:49 am
The Caked Crusader said…
I love this kind of biscuit - made with lovely french butter I bet it tastes amazing
27/10/14 11:33 am
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