Sablé Breton

• King cake made with puff pastry and sablé breton
  

Sablé Breton Dough

• In a food processor, pulse the almond meal and powdered sugar until finely ground. Transfer the mixture to a separate bowl.
  
• In the food processor, cream together the butter, salt, and vanilla.
  
• Add the almond-sugar mixture and pulse a few times to combine.
  
• Gradually add the egg yolks, pulsing between additions.
  
• Sift the flour and baking powder together, then add to the mixture and pulse just until combined—do not overmix.
  
• Turn the dough out onto a silicone baking mat. Top with a sheet of parchment paper and roll out to an even ¼ inch (6 mm) thickness. Freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.
  

Sablé Breton Cookies

• Cut the chilled dough into desired shapes and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Gather the scraps, re-roll, and cut more cookies from the remaining dough.
  

Egg Wash

• Mix all ingredients together. This egg wash mixture ensures a brillant sheen.
  
• Brush each chilled cookie with egg wash, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  
• Repeat and crosshatch marks with the tip of a paring knife; freeze pastry until ready to bake. At this point, sablé cookies can be kept frozen for up to 3 months.
  

Baking

• Preheat a fan oven to 390ºF/200ºC. Bake cookies for about 15-18 minutes. Let them cool to room temp before eating. Keep cookies in sealed containers for up to a week.
  

Sablé Breton for Cake or Yule Log Base

• Once mixed, refrigerate the sable dough for 3 hours to firm up. Flour the work surface and the dough. Work out the dough (350g) until it becomes supple and workable. If it cracks, work it a bit longer. The key here is to obtain a soft dough that is cool enough. If for any reason it has become too soft, freeze it for about 10 minutes.
  
• Roll it out into an even 2.75-inch (0.7cm) thick rectangle. The size of the sheet should always be larger than the base of the cake, as it will be trimmed later.
  
• Transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment and prick the dough with a dough docker.
  
• Freeze for 15 minutes and readjust its size.
  

Baking

• Bake in a preheated 350ºF (180ºC) fan oven for 10 minutes. Then remove from the oven and cut the sablé dough into the desired size. For instance, for a yule log cake base that measures 11.8x3.94 inches (30x10cm), cut it to that exact measurement. Finish baking for 10 more minutes. Let cool and freeze the sablé breton cake base.
  
• Stick the frozen sablé breton to the cake base. Flip it and demold.
  
• Leftover sablé breton can be saved for treats or turned into crumbs for later use, such as a base for your cheesecake in place of graham crackers.