La fouace de Figeac aux noix et à la fleur d'oranger
A golden, soft brioche crown, perfumed with orange blossom and studded with local walnuts. It is broken by hand and shared, still warm, around the table.
A golden, soft brioche crown, perfumed with orange blossom and studded with local walnuts. It is broken by hand and shared, still warm, around the table.
Ah, that one I will never forget! At home in Figeac, we only kneaded the fouace for special days. My mother worked it at length, let it rise by the hearth all night, and sprinkled it with walnuts from our trees and a few drops of orange blossom water that we kept preciously. We broke it by hand, never with a knife, and shared the warm crown. Believe me, no papyrus ever gladdened my heart as much as that smell rising from the oven.
- •Wheat flour — full kneading trough (dough base)
- •Sourdough or brewer's yeast — as needed (leavening)
- •Fresh butter — a good pat (softness and richness)
- •Eggs — several (binder and color)
- •Sugar — to taste (festive sweetness)
- •Orange blossom water — a few drops (precious perfume)
- •Quercy walnuts — a handful (crunchy signature)
- •Salt — a pinch (balance)
La fouace de Figeac aux noix et à la fleur d'oranger
A golden, soft brioche crown, perfumed with orange blossom and studded with local walnuts. It is broken by hand and shared, still warm, around the table.
Why this dish? Champollion was born in Figeac in 1790. The fouace — a large brioche crown perfumed with orange blossom — is THE festive cake of Quercy, for baptisms, weddings, and returns from the fair. On the Champollion family table, provincial bourgeoisie, it was the modest luxury of happy days, marking that it was not an ordinary day.
Ah, that one I will never forget! At home in Figeac, we only kneaded the fouace for special days. My mother worked it at length, let it rise by the hearth all night, and sprinkled it with walnuts from our trees and a few drops of orange blossom water that we kept preciously. We broke it by hand, never with a knife, and shared the warm crown. Believe me, no papyrus ever gladdened my heart as much as that smell rising from the oven.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat flour — full kneading trough (dough base)
- Sourdough or brewer's yeast — as needed (leavening)
- Fresh butter — a good pat (softness and richness)
- Eggs — several (binder and color)
- Sugar — to taste (festive sweetness)
- Orange blossom water — a few drops (precious perfume)
- Quercy walnuts — a handful (crunchy signature)
- Salt — a pinch (balance)
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour T45 — 500 g (base)
- Fresh baker's yeast — 20 g (leavening)
- Soft butter — 120 g (softness)
- Eggs — 3 (binder and glaze)
- Sugar — 80 g (sweetness)
- Orange blossom water — 2 tbsp (perfume)
- Walnut halves — 100 g (signature)
- Warm milk — 100 ml (hydration)
- Salt — 1 pinch (balance)
Method
- Dissolve the yeast in warm milk. Mix flour, sugar, and salt.
- Add eggs, yeasted milk, and orange blossom water; knead for 10 minutes until a soft dough forms.
- Gradually incorporate the soft butter, kneading until smooth and elastic.
- Let rise covered for 1 h 30 until doubled.
- Punch down, fold in roughly chopped walnuts, shape into a crown on a baking sheet, and let rise another hour.
- Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with a few walnuts and sugar, bake at 180°C for 25 minutes.
How it was made : The fouace (from Latin focacia, "bread baked under ashes") is attested throughout the Southwest since the Middle Ages. Rabelais already celebrated the fouaciers. In Quercy, it was shaped into a crown and reserved for feasts, as butter, eggs, and sugar were costly goods in a provincial household.
The contemporary twist : Glaze the crown with a veil of orange blossom sugar and trace on it, with colored sugar, an Egyptian cartouche as a wink to the decipherer.
Champollion · Charactorium