Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling! We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes!
Let me begin by thanking Natalia for this fantastic challenge! She only had three weeks notice to host our April challenge, and during that time she tried several Savarin recipes to find one to share with the Daring Bakers. Making the Savarin was not hard, but it was very time consuming, so my hat is off to Natalia. I encourage you to check out her blog, Gatti Fili e Farina, for a bit more information about Savarin. She also has fantastic photographs of the dough as it forms threads and for the window pane test.
In her words, Natalia told us where she found our recipes:
Recipe Source: I must tell you that I tried many recipes (we are submerged in Savarins!) and the recipe I chose is a mix of the recipes from a very famous Italian Blogger, Adriano Continisio of Profumo di Lievito, and a very famous Italian Chef : Luca Montersino. He has his show on Alice TV, a cable channel that focuses on cooking . The link to their recipes are: http://profumodilievito.blogspot.it/2007/09/il-baba_15.html and http://www.alice.tv/dolci-dessert/savarin-chantilly-pesca. For the pastry cream I followed the recipe in Professional Baking by Wayne Gisslen. For the syrup I followed the recipe from Luca Montersino.
I chose to make the Savarin on a Saturday while we had friends visiting. If I were to make it again, I would break it down into two days. I would bake and soak the Savarin in the syrup the day before I planned to serve it. I would also complete steps 1 - 6 of the Pastry Cream and Chantilly recipe the day before.
The Savarin was a big hit with the adults and the young adults in our home. I'd love to make it again sometime using a dairy free filling. My biggest disappointment with my Savarin was that I did not soak it long enough. I worried it would become too soggy to handle, so mine soaked less than 5 minutes. Next time, I will add more soaking time. That being said, it was still delicious and our friends happily took some leftovers home with them.
Following, you will find the information and recipes Natalia shared with us. (I added my photos and a few of my own notes in bold italics.)
Peach Tea Soaked Savarin with Vanilla Chantilly
Notes: This is a very rich dough but following Luca’s and Adriano’s tips and with the help of a mixer you won’t have any trouble! The key is to know how to handle a very rich dough. We need a very healthy and active gluten in this recipe but fats can
inhibit it; so we have to develop the gluten well before adding any fat.
For this reason I liked the fact that Adriano adds even the yolks after
the autolyse
not to disturb gluten at all. The salt crystals can cut the elastic
strands of the gluten too so they are added later as the butter who is
the last addition.After the first proofing we proceed in a couple of folds to strengthen the structure of our dough with the ‘Dough Package fold’ method that will result in a smaller and tighter crumb. After that the dough will be shaped on the work bench with a method called “Pirlatura” (that is used for Panettone as well) put in the pan, proofed , baked and then soaked in a flavored syrup. In my recipe I chose to fill the hole with what we, in Italy, call Chantilly that is a pastry cream thinned with whipped cream. And then I decorated it with fresh fruit.
Preparation time:
Sponge: 30 minutes
First Mixing and Autolyse: 35 minutes
Second Mixing: 35 minutes
Proofing: 2 to 3 hours
Shaping: 20 minutes
Final Rising: 1 to 1,1/2 hour
Syrup preparation: 15 minutes
Glaze preparation: 10 minutes
Pastry cream preparation: 30 minutes
Whipped cream preparation: 15 minutes
Baking: 40 minutes
Soaking: 1 hour
Glazing: 10 minutes
Equipment required:
• Scale or measuring cups and spoons
• Stand mixer with paddle and beater or hand held mixer with dough hooks and beaters or very motivated arms!
• Dough scraper or spatula
• Grater for lemon and orange zest
• Knife for lemon and orange peel
• Small bowl for the sponge
• Bowl for egg whites
• Bowl for yolks
• Small bowl for butter
• Saucepan for pastry cream
• Bowl for Pastry cream
• Saucepan for syrup
• Saucepan for the glaze
• Brush for the glaze
• 28 cm (11 inches) Savarin mold (springform or not)
• Cling film
• Cooling rack to let the cake drip
• Pan that fits under the cooling rack to catch the drippings
• Ladle
• Big bowl for soaking the Savarin
Savarin
Servings: 8/10Ingredients
2½ cups (600 ml) (12-1/3 oz) (350 gm) bread flour (NOTE: measure into a separate container before beginning.)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water, lukewarm
6 (320 gm) large eggs at room temperature, separated
½ satchel (1½ teaspoons) (4 gm) instant yeast or 15 gm (½ oz) fresh yeast
4 teaspoons (20 ml) (20 gm) sugar
2/3 stick (1/3 cup) (80 ml) (75 gm) butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) orange and lemon zest (optional)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
¼ cup (60 ml) (2 oz) (55 gm) butter for greasing the work surface, hands, dough scraper & baking pan
Directions:
Sponge
In a small bowl mix 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lukewarm water, 3 tablespoons (1 oz) (25 gm) flour and yeast , cover with cling film and let rise 60 minutes (NOTE: Next time, I will add the water and the yeast first, and then stir in the flour.)
Dough
1.After 30 minutes put the egg whites in the mixer bowl and start working with the paddle at low speed adding flour until you have a soft dough that sticks to the bowl (about 2 cups or 270 gm) and work until it comes together, cover with cling film and let rest 30 min
2.Add the sponge to the mixer bowl along with a tablespoon of flour and start mixing at low speed (if you wish to add the zests do it now)
3.When it starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl add one yolk and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour
4.Add the second yolk , the sugar and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour
5.Raise the speed a little
6.Add the third yolk and the salt and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour
7.Keep on adding one yolk at the time and the flour saving a tablespoon of flour for later
8.Mix the dough until is elastic and makes threads (NOTE: Natalia's blog has a great photo of this.)
9.Add the butter at room temperature and as soon as the butter is adsorbed add the last tablespoon of flour
11.Cover the dough with cling film and let it proof until it has tripled in volume 2 to 3 hours.
12.You can prepare the Pastry cream now if you chose to use it, and refrigerate it
13.While you wait prepare your baking pan buttering it very carefully not leaving too much butter on it
14.Grease your dough scraper, your hands and your work surface and put the dough on it and fold with the Dough Package Fold two or three times around (5 folds twice or three times). Cover with cling foil and let it rest 15 minutes on the counter
15.Turn the dough upside down and with the help of your buttered dough scraper shape your dough http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta2_h6Qogp0 in a rounded bun
16.Make a hole in the center with your thumb and put it in the prepared pan
17. Cover with cling film and let rise in a warm spot until the dough reaches the top of the pan about 1 hour
18.Pre-heat oven to moderate 340°F/170°C/gas mark 3
19.Bake the Savarin for about 40 minutes until the top is golden brown
20.Meanwhile prepare the Syrup
22.You have two choices now: you can immerse it in syrup right now or you can let it dry out (so it will lose some of his moisture that will be replaced by the syrup) and soak it later on.
23.To immerse it in syrup it is a good idea to place it in the mold you baked it in (I’m afraid a spring-form one wouldn’t work for this) and keep adding ladles of syrup until you see it along the rim of the pan. Or you can just soak it in a big bowl keeping your ladle on top of it so it doesn’t float. Once the Savarin is really well soaked carefully move it on a cooling rack positioned over a pan to let the excess syrup drip. (NOTE: I feared the syrup would overflow from my bundt pan, so I attempted using a bowl first. However, the Savarin kept floating, and the bowl was too narrow at the bottom to allow the top section to soak. So, I returned it to the bundt pan and carefully ladled the syrup over the top. In the future, I would allow my Savarin to soak at least 5-10 minutes. If it becomes too soft, I could always place my cooling rack over the sink and carefully turn the Savarin onto the rack.)
24.The soaked Savarin gains in flavor the next day
25.Whatever you decide the day you want to serve it glaze it and fill the hole with your filling of choice and decorate it. You can serve the Savarin with some filling on the side.
26.Enjoy it !
Peach Flavored Syrup:
Servings: 1 savarinIngredients
1½ cups (350 ml) peach tea
1½ cups (350 ml) peach juice
1½ cups (350 ml) water
1 cup (240 ml) (8 oz) (225 gm) sugar
zest of one lemon
one cinnamon stick (Note: I substituted 1/2 tsp of cinnamon)
Directions:
1.Combine tea, water, sugar, lemon zest and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil
2.Let boil 5 minutes and remove from the stove
3.When cooled a bit add the peach juice.
Pastry Cream and Chantilly:
Servings: 1 savarin plus some for servingIngredients
2 cups (500 ml) milk
¼ cup (60 ml) (2 oz) (60 gm) sugar
zest of one lemon
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (1¼ oz) (35 gm) cornstarch
¼ cup (60 ml) (2 oz) (60 gm) sugar
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
Directions:
1.In a saucepan bring to a boil milk and sugar (Note: I added the zest here.)
2.In a bowl whisk together egg yolks, egg, cornstarch and sugar
3.Add the hot milk to the eggs one tablespoon at the time to temper it
4.Pour in the saucepan again and bring to a boil stirring constantly
5.When the cream thickens remove from the stove
6.Put cling film onto the cream (touching the surface) and cool
7.Pour 1 cup (250 ml) cold heavy cream in mixer bowl with the whisk attachment
8.Beat until whipped
9.Combine with the cooled pastry cream adding a tablespoon at the time of whipped cream until it gets to the right consistency. Or it looks right to you !
Glaze:
Servings: 1 savarinIngredients
2 tablespoons (30 ml) apricot Jam
2 tablespoons water
Directions:
1.In a saucepan mix jam and water and warm up
Storage & Freezing Instructions/Tips:
You can store the dried savarin for 5 days in a closed container. If you have soaked it cover well with cling foil and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
