Savarin (GBBO Technical Challenge)

By: Pete on 09:10:00

Cake or bread? I wasn't sure what to tag this as...it's made as a very wet brioche dough, and the end result is a batter, rather than a dough.

I varied from the GBBO recipe of this...I didn't do any chocolate work, and the fruits on top were limited to what was in the house. Finally, I didn't use an orange liqueur, as it turns out to be crazy-expensive, and it's not like I would drink it otherwise... I did use this as an excuse to get a fancy new cake tin...a rather geometrically pleasing savarin ring which I suspect is a little lower in volume than the one the recipe was designed for, as during baking it rose out of the tin a little. I used the oven as a proving drawer, as otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten it all done in an evening

You'll quickly realise that there is a lot of syrup for the cake...all the sweetness comes from the syrup, not the dough, so it's important to get it all into the cake.

Savarin - Recipe

Dough Ingredients

• 350g plain flour
• 50g caster sugar
• 10g dried yeast
• 45g milk
• ½tsp salt
• 6 eggs
• 180g softened butter
• Zest of 1 large orange
• Zest of 1 lemon

1) Put the flour, sugar and yeast into a stand mixer bowl

2) Put the eggs, milk and salt into a large jug and whisk together

3) Add the egg mixture into the flour mixture

4) Using the paddle attachment, beat the batter for 5 minutes on a medium speed, until it is smooth

5) Continue to beat, and slowly add in the butter to form a smooth, glossy batter

6) Finally, mix in the zests

7) Leave to prove for 45 minutes to an hour in a warm place. While it is proving, make the syrup, cream and caramel

Syrup Ingredients

• 300g caster sugar
• 150g water
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 orange (100g of juice...or 100ml of orange liqueur)

1) Put the sugar, lemon juice and water into a medium saucepan

2) Heat over a medium/low heat, stirring, until the sugar is melted

3) Rise the heat a bit, and bring to the boil

4) Remove from the heat, and stir in the orange juice

5) Leave to cool

Caramel Ingredients

• 150g caster sugar
• Water

1) Put the sugar into a small, clean pan, and add just enough water to cover the sugar

2) Place over a low heat, and without stirring let the sugar dissolve and melt

3) Bring to a medium heat, and allow to boil until the sugar starts to turn brown

4) Once it is golden brown, pour the caramel onto a sheet of baking parchment (obviously be careful, its really hot)

5) Leave to dry into a sheet

Cream ingredients (Chantilly-light)

• 200ml double cream
• 30g icing sugar
• 1tsp vanilla essence

1) Put all the ingredients into a bowl

2) Whisk until stiff peaks are formed

3) Back to the cake!
... ... ...

1) Grease a 24cm savarin ring/mould with some butter

2) Transfer the batter into the saravin ring, keeping the top level, and avoiding any air pockets in the mix

3) Cover with clingfilm, and leave to prove for another 20-30 minutes (until it is just below the top of the tin)

4) Pre-heat the oven to 160'C

5) Once the second prove is done, remove the cling film and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown, and a skewer comes out clean

6) Remove from the oven to a wire rack

7) As soon as it's cool enough to handle, turn the cake out of the tin

8) Pour half the syrup into the tin, and return the cake to the tin to absorb the syrup

9) Put the other half of the syrup in a large baking tray

10) turn the cake out into the baking tray to absorb the rest of the syrup (I also spooned it over, and used a pastry brush to catch any gaps)
 

Assembly

• Various slices of fruit (I used strawberry, banana and orange)

1) Place the cake onto a serving plate (carefully, it will be heavy now)

2) Using a star nozzle, pipe the cream onto the top and middle

3) Place the fruit slices over the top

4) Shatter the caramel sheet, and decorate the cake with shards of caramel