I love baking gateau basque, because we can fill them with whatever strikes our fancy : raspberry jam with a touch of almond for instance, or my very favourite : hazelnut custard. Since I'm not a huge fan of the traditional black cherries jam filling, I've decided to give this recipe a try. The custard was actually very fine : I've replaced the brandy with some bitter almond extract, I've also used a low fat heavy cream instead of milk and butter to obtain a lighter result. Indeed, it's useless to mix butter and milk when you can use heavy cream and obtain a smoother custard. However, Martha's pate brisee is NOT the crust for this dessert,... not at all! It doesn't taste at all like a genuine gateau basque crust. In a gateau basque the crust mustn't be neglected, for it makes the difference between a gateau basque and any other regular pie. So I'll try it again, this time using my own gateau basque crust recipe : 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, 1 1/2 tbsp baking soda, 1/2 cup room temperature butter, 1 1/2 all purpose flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, a pinch of salt. Blend butter and sugar till smooth, add salt and egg + egg yolk, and mix well. Then add flour and baking soda, mix till it just forms a dough and be careful to not overwork it. Then store in the fridge for one hour before using it. Anyway, it's still a nice alternative to the traditional gateau basque. I'll definitely try it again with those adjustments.

Martha is such a great cook, and an expert teacher. She makes it easy to replicate her recipes. However, some of her recipes are too sugary and fatty to eat but on rare occasion. Her shows are sponsored by the sugar and dairy industry, and this is reflected in some of her over the top recipes using butter and sugar.