Quatre-quarts (“four quarters”) is equal weights of eggs, butter, sugar and flour. In US measures: 4 large eggs, 1 stick + 6 tbsp salted butter, 1 cup sugar, 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour and 1¼ tsp baking powder, in a 9 × 5 in loaf pan, baked 5 minutes at 425 °F (220 °C) and then 30 to 35 minutes at 375 °F (190 °C).
Quatre-quarts: the recipe in grams and US cups
| Ingredient | French recipe | US measure |
|---|---|---|
| œufs (about 200 g without shells)eggs (US large) | 4 | 4 |
| beurre demi-sel, fondusalted butter, melted | 200 g | 1 stick + 6 tbsp |
| sucre en poudregranulated sugar | 200 g | 1 cup |
| farine (T55)all-purpose flour | 200 g | 1⅔ cups |
| levure chimique (½ sachet)baking powder | 5.5 g | 1¼ tsp |
| zeste et jus d'un citron ou d'une orange (optional)zest and juice of a lemon or orange | 1 fruit | 1 lemon or orange |
Tap a row to tick it off. US measures use King Arthur Baking weights per cup; a scale gives the most exact result.
Method
- Melt the butter and let it cool until just warm. Butter and flour the loaf pan.
- Beat the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl until smooth and pale.
- Pour in the warm melted butter and beat it in. Add the zest and juice now if you use them.
- Mix the flour with the baking powder, sprinkle it over the batter and fold it in until smooth.
- Chill the bowl of batter for 30 minutes, pour it into the pan, then chill 15 minutes more.
- Heat the oven to 220 °C (425 °F). Bake 5 minutes, then lower to 190 °C (375 °F) and bake 30 to 35 minutes more, until risen, golden and a knife in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.
This is the French moule à cake; a US 9 × 5 in loaf pan is the match. Changing pan size changes the batter depth, so check doneness early or late.
Converted from the traditional French recipe; not yet kitchen-tested by Mangez Moi.
The French way: weigh the eggs
The name says it all: four quarters, four ingredients in equal weight. The traditional method is to weigh the eggs, then use the same weight of butter, sugar and flour. Four medium French eggs come to about 200 g without their shells, which is why the Breton recipe pairs 4 eggs with 200 g of each. With US large eggs, weigh them too and match the other three to that number.
In Brittany the butter is demi-sel (salted), which gives the cake its buttery, slightly salty finish. Our source recipe comes from the Morbihan tourist board in southern Brittany. Its American cousin is the pound cake, which first appeared in print in American Cookery in 1796.
The Breton recipe starts very hot, 220 °C / 425 °F for 5 minutes, then bakes at 190 °C / 375 °F. On a US oven, set 425 °F, then turn the dial down after 5 minutes without opening the door.
Tools used on this page: the recipe converter (grams to cups), French oven temperatures, the cake pan size converter and the French recipe abbreviations list.
Sources
- Morbihan Tourisme, “Recette du quatre-quarts breton” – 4 eggs, 200 g each of salted butter, flour and sugar, ½ sachet baking powder; 220 °C then 190 °C, 30-35 minutes
- Wikipédia (fr), “Quatre-quarts” – the four ingredients in equal weights
The quantities are the traditional formula, cross-checked against the sources above; the method is written in our own words. US measures are computed from the King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart by the same converter as our recipe converter.
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What does quatre-quarts mean?
“Four quarters”: the cake is one quarter each of eggs, butter, sugar and flour by weight.
Can I use unsalted butter?
Yes. The Breton recipe uses salted (demi-sel) butter, so with unsalted butter add a good pinch of salt.
How many cups is 200 g of flour?
About 1⅔ cups of all-purpose flour, at 120 g per cup.
What size pan do I need for quatre-quarts?
A loaf pan of about 23 × 13 cm, which is a US 9 × 5 in loaf pan. For a round pan or a bigger loaf, pick your pan in the recipe card and the amounts scale.
Cite this page: Mangez Moi, “Quatre-Quarts in Cups: French Pound Cake Recipe,” mangezmoi.com, updated October 9, 2026, https://mangezmoi.com/recipes/quatre-quarts/. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with credit and a link.