The gató is one of the more traditional and common desserts that we can find today in Mallorca. Its name comes from the French word gâteau, which means "cake". This makes us think that it has French origins. Some people say that this sweet arrived to Mallorca thanks to people that got exiled to Mallorca due to the French revolution (1789). However, there are documents that confirm that time before there were already almond-based cakes in our island: on 1679, due to the visit of the bishop Bernat Cotoner, in the monastery of Sant Salvador "almond cakes" were served.1
Some curious data retrieved from a survey taken in 2015: 83 % of the bakeries in Mallorca produced gató. The average production per bakery is 468 gatons, and the total production in Mallorca is approximately 105.000 units. This means a billing of over 2 million euros!
This cake is quite easy to prepare, and very tasteful. Moreover, it keeps wet for a while. Thus, you can eat it days after it has been prepared and you will not notice. Without any doubts a piece of gató accompanied by an ice-cream ball is one of my favourite desserts!
With these proportions we used a mould of 30 cm of diameter.
Cover the mould with butter and then with some flour. This will avoid the cake to stick to the mould. Turn the oven on, at 180 ºC.
Separate the yolks from the white and put them in two different bowls.
Beat the whites with a part of the sugar.
Now beat the yolks with the rest of the sugar. Add then the almond flour, the lemon peel and the cinnamon and mix everything.
Put the mix on the egg whites that we beat before. Now gently incorporate all the ingredients taking care not to remove the air of the egg whites.
When we are done, put the dough on the mould and bake it 30 minutes at 180 ºC.
After 30-35 minutes it will be ready. Let it chill.
When it's no longer hot, remove it from the mould and put it upside down on a plate. Sprinkle some sugar on it... you can use your imagination now!
Now just cut a slice and... enjoy!
Ingredients
Directions
Cover the mould with butter and then with some flour. This will avoid the cake to stick to the mould. Turn the oven on, at 180 ºC.
Separate the yolks from the white and put them in two different bowls.
Beat the whites with a part of the sugar.
Now beat the yolks with the rest of the sugar. Add then the almond flour, the lemon peel and the cinnamon and mix everything.
Put the mix on the egg whites that we beat before. Now gently incorporate all the ingredients taking care not to remove the air of the egg whites.
When we are done, put the dough on the mould and bake it 30 minutes at 180 ºC.
After 30-35 minutes it will be ready. Let it chill.
When it's no longer hot, remove it from the mould and put it upside down on a plate. Sprinkle some sugar on it... you can use your imagination now!
Now just cut a slice and... enjoy!