Cameroonian Gateau Recipe
Published Jun 05, 2015
Updated Apr 27, 2017
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This is crazy! I was making something else and I else and I ended up with Cameroonian Gateau. Well, they say some of the best recipes are results of accidents and that is what happened here.
So after watching a pressure test on the TV show, “Master Chef” in which the contestants had to make Cinnamon Rolls in 45 minutes, I was inspired to make mine. I spent my night dreaming of how I will make the perfect Cinnamon Rolls for my family the next day.
After making my dough the next day, I realised that my preheated oven was not anywhere near hot. I put it off and on several times but there was no heat. My oven was bad! I was so dissapointed. So I abandoned my covered dough in the kitchen where it rose and rose and rose for four hours! (Fear not! You do not have to leave it that long).
I kept it in the refrigerator and the next morning, I decided to shape it into balls and fry. After deep frying it, I realised I had made the purrfect gateaus.
Gateau is a popular Cameroonian snack that is an advanced and better lasting version ofย puff puff. I had once attempted to make this but it turned out hard and not the way I wanted. These ones were nothing short of perfect.
They are hard on the outside, soft and stretchy on the inside with an irresistible buttery flavour. I now have my go-to Gateau recipe. Yay!
ย Prep: 25 mins
Inactive: 1hr 30 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Yield: 25-30 Gateaus
Ingredients
3 and a half – 4 cups of flour
5 tablespoons butter
2 and a quarter teaspoons of yeast
Half a cup of whole milk
Half a cup of warm water
Three quarter cup of sugar (I used brown)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 litre of vegetable oil for deep frying
Directions
-Mix yeast and warm water in a small bowl and keep aside.
-In another bowl, mix together milk, egg, melted butter, sugar and salt.
-Add half of the flour to the above mixture and mix well
-Add in warm water and yeast and mix
-Add in remaining flour and mix until it forms a stretchy dough
-Put dough on a floured board and knead for 5 minutes
-Put dough in a bowl and cover. Let it rise for one hour
-Punch down dough and knead again
-Shape into small balls like these:
-Let them sit for 20-30 minutes. They’ll rise again
-Heat oil and deep fry on medium heat until pale brown.
-Remove from oil and place on paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Imagine these with a glass of orange juice:
NOTES
Be careful not to fry your Gateaus in very hot oil. This will result in a burnt exterior and an under-cooked interior. Your oil should be on medium heat so the balls can cook slowly and thoroughly.
For measurements in grams/kilograms, goย here.
Happy Gateau making/eating!
Thank you soo much. Followed all the steps and its so yummy
So glad tp hear that. You’re welcome.
Making this in a commercial quantity is still till today most challenging. It’s hard to make my ball have same size and shape. I told all my customers where I learned it from but please, about the size, what can I do.
Hi Henry, you could use a kitchen scale to measure the sizes so they come out perfect. Hope this helps.
I tried mone but it ended very hard to cut when it gets cold. Please what could be the problem
Hi Nora, did you measure the ingredients correctly? They should get harder when cold but still soft enough to enjoy.
Hi Precious. Please I wish to know which milk here in Cameroon can be classified as whole?
Hi Belinda, whole milk is milk that has its full fat as opposed to low-fat milk. Nido is whole. Mix with water (check the milk packaging for instructions on the right ratio of milk to water) to make the half a cup of milk needed in this recipe. Note that, the milk you need here is liquid milk. Hope this helps, dear.
Hello, am about using your method but plz,wat quantity of yeast wil I use for a kilo of flour
Thank you so much for your recipe. It was such a hit and so delicious
Oh so glad to hear that, Emmanuella! Thanks for the feedback.
hmm. mine was a complete failure. i used 10 g of instant yeast with 600 g of flour. please can you give me the measurements in kg.
Hi dear, please follow the directions in this recipe: https://www.preciouscore.com/cameroonian-gateau-video-recipe/
Hi precious, I am a big fan of yours always trying out ur delicious recipes and having a wonderful results. I have a question when u always used cups measurements how many is it in ml can be a cup e.g 1 cup of flour is what quantity? I always get confused. I want to try this gateaux recipe . Thanks
Hi Mama,
Thanks for the great feedback! I can tell you the measurement in kilograms (kg). In this recipe, you need about 1/2 (half) kg. 2 cups of flour make 1/4 (one quarter) kg while 4 cups make 1/2 (half) kg. Hope this helps.
thanks for this recipe and wishing you + your family a happy new year
Thanks Lina! Happy new year to you, dear.