Haitian Cake (Gateau Au Beurre)
2014-05-17- Cuisine: Traditional
- Course: Dinner, Lunch
- Skill Level: Easy
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- Servings : 10-15
- Cook Time : 1:15 h
This traditional Haitian cake recipe is the basis for a lot of Haitian cake recipes. What sets it apart from other butter cake is the Barabancourt rum that gives it a unique flavor. The cake can be made using any pan type, but traditionally you will see it in a bundt pan. This recipe can be used to make birthday cakes, cup cakes, and variety of other baking goods. Here is our version with a lemon coconut glaze.
Ingredients
- 2 Cups of All-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups of sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 sticks of butter
- 3 tsp of baking powder
- 1 can evaporated Milk (12 oz)
- 2 tbs of dark rum (Barbancourt)
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1 tsp of lime zest
- 1 tsp of nutmeg
- 2 tsp of salt
Method
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Step 2
In a large bowl, add the sugar, eggs, butter, lime zest, and mix for 5 minutes with an electric mixer on low speed.
Step 3
Add the rum, milk, and flour and mix at medium speed for another 5 min.
Step 4
Add in the salt, baking powered, nutmeg, salt and vanilla extract and continue mixing for about 20 minutes or until the mixture is smooth.
Step 5
Set the mixture a side and lightly grease a 12 cup bundt pan.
Step 6
Fill the pan halfway with the cake batter. This will give the cake enough room to rise.
Step 7
Bake the cake for about 35 minutes. The cake will be done when a toothpick or knife is inserted in the middle and comes out clean.
Step 8
Remove the cake from the oven and set it a side to cool.
Step 9
Optional Glaze: In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 tbs of vanilla extract, and 2 tbs of melted butter. Mix until a smooth consistency. Pour glaze over the cake with a spoon. Finish it off with some sweetened shredded coconut.
Suggested Haitian Cake Products
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Average Member Rating
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Recipe Comments
Comments (30)
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posted by Antonella on August 3, 2014
I have a question I love this recipe but every time I tried baking this cake it doesn’t cook all the way through and leaving it in longer burns the top and still doesn’t cook all the way
posted by HaitianCooking on August 9, 2014
There are a couple of factors which could cause this such as the type of pan, oven etc. I would suggest reducing the temperature by about 25 degrees and cook it a little longer.
posted by karla koehler on January 4, 2019
You could also cover with foil and reduce the heat 25 degrees during the last 20 minutes of cooking. The cake will have “set”, the foil prevents burning and holds the heat so the cake bakes inside out. Leave in oven for 10 minutes after turning heat off then remove, let sit 5 more minutes covered then uncover and allow to cool.
posted by nedy on September 14, 2014
is it ok to use 4 eggs instead of 3
posted by HaitianCooking on September 16, 2014
The ingredients are mainly a guideline, but too many eggs can make the cake heavy and tough.
posted by Angelica on August 30, 2015
I found the rum but there are 2 different kinds there’s one that say 3 star 4 year rum and the other say 5 star 8 year rum. Which dark rum do I use ?
posted by Trinity nett on December 6, 2015
Just pick The one you like……….. It might not matter.
I used spiced rum and it worked fine.🍾
posted by Scott Mason on May 22, 2017
Unless you’re going to use the 8yr Barbancourt, any spiced rum will do just fine.
But on the other hand. *yr Barbancourt is a beautiful thing.
posted by Ferene on September 14, 2015
This cake was a hit at our dinner party!
posted by Rachel on January 1, 2016
This recipe is very salty for a cake. It’s in the oven now. I may have to add a really sweet simple syrup to cut the salt. I’m gonna see how it bakes, and if everything is right, I’ll recommend only 1 tsp if salt instead of 2
posted by Lourdes Vital on January 1, 2017
One tsp salt and 2 tsp baking soda
posted by Chloe on February 24, 2016
Would you be able to not use rum?
posted by Naima on March 8, 2016
Hi can you tell me please 2 sticks of butter how much in gramme or ml thank you
posted by HaitianCooking on March 12, 2016
113 grams.
posted by Eve on May 22, 2016
I’ve baked this cake twice and both times it did not cook well; it remained heavy and oily at the bottom of the cake. The first time I used 2 sticks of butter, but the second time I used only 1 stick of butter and the result was still the same, a heavy and oily looking uncooked cake bottom. I did some searching on the internet and saw two other recipe videos where the egg yolks were separated from the whites, and the egg whites were beaten to a stiffened peak and folded into the batter as a final step. Could this be where this recipe has gone wrong, not separating the egg yolks from the whites? Also, the other recipes advised to avoid over beating the batter whereas this recipe advises for 20 minutes of beating, could this be a problem also? I’m not trying to criticize here, just really want to find where I went wrong so I don’t bake another bad cake…
posted by Julie on February 16, 2017
I want to say it should be 20 seconds and not 20 minutes. It also says “Or until smooth”, so 20 seconds sound like it would be right. If you beat a cake batter that ling it would be as hard as a rock!
posted by Simply on July 25, 2019
Yes, when you beat you batter too long, the cake become stiff and less fluffy.
posted by shella Cotiere on November 10, 2016
Thank you so much by teaching me how to make a great Haitian cake.
May God bless you and your entire team or group.
posted by Vick on December 11, 2016
This recipe is wrong. The salt measurement is off. I’d recommend only using a pinch of salt and adding some almond extract. I made this cake and it came out EXTREMELY salty.
posted by Marie on December 20, 2016
The ingredients recommended are fine you can use one stick of butter instead of 2 it should not be a problem as well as one tsp of salt.
But beating for 20 min is reasonable to make it light not heavy. I think this person that I have the issue with the cake should double check the oven temp.
thanks again for your recepe
posted by SYLVAIN CONFECTIONS on February 8, 2017
Use the CREAMING METHOD for this cake, is what I recommend. Cream butter and sugar til light and fluffy(5min). Then add the zest and mix til incorporated. Add egg yolks one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition and mixing. Then add the 2tsp vanilla extract, 1tsp almond extract and 3Tbsp dark rhum(Meyers is good if you cant find Barbancourt). Sift together the dry ingredients such as flour, 1tsp salt, 2tsp baking powder, 1tsp nutmeg, 1tsp cinnamon. Starting with the flour mixture, add 1/2 cup at a time and mix. then add milk then again with the flour then milk(START and END with Flour). Lastly, in a separate bowl add the egg whites and a pinch of salt and whisk til soft foamy peaks form, then GENTLY FOLD into the batter with rubber spatula. pour into greased and floured pan and bake for 30min on 325F. Slowly, open open and insert a toothpick. It should come out clean. If not let bake 5 more minutes. Cool and enjoy with your favorite topping.(I use a rhum buttercream that I make)
posted by Debbie on March 19, 2018
exactly the way I make it and it comes out perfect every time….
posted by Jesula Francois on September 23, 2018
That was the method I used.
posted by SYLVAIN CONFECTIONS on February 8, 2017
I also recommend 2 1/2 cups of flour and 1 lime zested
posted by Karine mathias on September 22, 2017
Karine.mathias@aol.com
Please I want to receive daily posts from that site
posted by Diane on January 14, 2018
For everyone saying that the cake was “salty”. Use UN-salted butter. You never use salted butter when baking.
posted by susise on June 7, 2018
1• I didn’t bake the cake yet but I cant wait
2• I wanted to post something online
posted by Colleen on January 27, 2019
Hello! I made the cake according to the recipe and the cake is way too salty! I would recommend adding 1/4 tsp of salt or none at all. I made this cake for my boyfriend’s birthday, it was pretty disappointing. Definitely doesn’t taste like an authentic Haitian rum cake.
posted by Carlo on May 28, 2020
Cake came out great. First time making it. My tasters love it. One or two mentioned maybe use a little less salt, but many thought the amount of salt was fine (so that’s up to the person’s taste). Overall, I’ll certainly be making this more often. Thank you for the recipe.
posted by Lolo on June 27, 2020
I usually use another recipe but this was the first one to come up so I used it this time because I figured it would be fine. I already started mixing it when I noticed there was no almond extract and thought this might not be an authentic recipe. I was sadly right. This cake wasn’t good and it didn’t taste like Haitian cake. It seemed like a lot of salt to me but I went ahead a followed the recipe w/o reading the comments. Waaaaaaaaay too much salt. The rum flavor wasn’t there at all even with the amount of rum doubled so if you want to taste the rum this isn’t the one. If this recipe were altered for salt levels, it might make an okay cake I think, but still 10000000% not a Haitian cake.