The ugliest cake you'll ever love ...

Hubby and I were talking lately that I've kind of strayed from my "simple recipes for lazy people" mantra that I adopted when I first started this blog. And I think it's true (see the itty-bitty chocolate chip cookie recipe for an example of how time consuming baking can be.). What can I say? Although I've always loved cooking, as I've been making more recipes, I find myself liking new challenges and trying new things.

That is why I now have buckwheat flour in my pantry. And although I initially bought too much - having buckwheat flour on hand is worth it to make this cake as often as possible. (Thank god I didn't find this recipe before the wedding ... uff da.)

I got this recipe from 101 Cookbooks who took this recipe from David Lebovitz's book "The Sweet Life in Paris." And I have to be honest - this is one homely looking cake, but it is very surprisingly tasty. Very much worth buying buckwheat flour for.

Breton Buckwheat Cake with Fleur de Sel

For the cake:
7/8 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon plus
1/3 teaspoon fleur de sel (**did not have, used sea salt)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dark rum (**I just used the Bacardi I had from some last Christmas's rum cake.)

For the glaze:
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon milk

Butter a 9 or 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom or a 9-inch springform cake pan. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the buckwheat and all-purpose flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the cinnamon. In the bowl of a standing mixer or by hand, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the 4 egg yolks and whole egg with the vanilla and rum with a fork, then gradually dribble the egg mixture into the batter while beating. If using an electric mixer, beat on high speed so the butter gets really airy. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top as flat as possible with an offset metal or plastic spatula. Make a glaze by stirring the single yolk and milk together with a fork, then brush it generously all over the top. (You may not use it all, but use most of it.) Take a fork and rake it across the top in three parallel lines, evenly space; then repeat starting from a slightly different angle to make a criss-cross pattern.

Crumble the remaining 1/3 teaspoon salt over the gateau with your fingers and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool completely before unmolding. Per Heidi's suggestion, I did put a pan underneath my tart pan because there was a bit of leaking.