SAVARIN / BABA AU RHUM - DARING BAKERS 2013

Thanks for the wonderful challenge Natalia... I thoroughly enjoyed it because, during our recent trip to Naples we enjoyed eating so much of Baba au rhum and we all loved it a looooot.  From that time I was planning to do this, atleast I had a chance to do it for the challenge... For the sponge I followed the recipe you have provided and it was so perfect,  came out airy, soft and the texture was so good that the liquid soaked up very well. Made three different shapes of Baba/Savarin and soaked with different combination of syrup. Filled with Crème Patisserie and whipped cream. Decorated with Fruits...

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!


What is Savarin ??

Savarin: A yeasted cake made with the same dough as Rum Baba which has its controversial origins in the Polish Babka.  Apparently, in the eighteen century the recipe traveled with the exiled Polish king Stanislas who once soaked a dried Babka in an alcoholic solution creating what is now known as Baba au Rhum. The original Babka (Christian version) is often baked in a tall ring mold but it is in the Julien brothers’ Patisserie in 1844 that it was baked in the classic Savarin mold (which takes its name from the eclectic lawyer, politician and gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin).  It is said that baba cake was brought to Paris and France by the King of Poland.  King Stanislas Leszczyunska was the father-in-law of King Louis XV of France, when he was exiled to Lorraine.  According to one legend, he found the customary kouglopf too dry and dipped it in sweet wine.  He was so delighted that he named the cake after his hero Ali Baba from his favorite book, A Thousand and One Nights.  Later, his chef refined the sweet bread by using brioche dough and adding raisins to the recipe..  The cake was then called, "Baba."  Years later, Baba traveled to Naples by some unknown French cook, where it is still one of the most popular treat: o’ Babbà!  "Baba cake is called "Bakka" in Poland and "Father's Cake" in Turkey.  Some say the word BABA in French means, "falling over dizzy,"  World renowned Chef Alain Ducasse serves baba au rhum as a signature dessert at his Michelin restaurants...

Whether it is Savarin or Baba, it tastes sooooooo good which is topped or filled with different creams or custards and decorated with fruits, candied fruits and so on.

Photograph which I took during my Naples Trip :)

SAVARIN

Servings: 8/10

Ingredients:

Bread flour - 2 1/2 cups (350 gm)
Water, lukewarm - 2 tablespoons (30 ml)
Eggs - 6 (320 gm) large at room temperature, separated
Instant yeast - 1½ tsp (4 gm)
Sugar - 4 tsp (20 gm)
Butter - 1/3 cup (75 gm) butter at room temperature
Orange and lemon zest (optional) - 1 tbsp (15 gm)
Salt - 1 tsp (6 gm)
Butter - ¼ cup (55 gm) for greasing the work surface, hands, dough scraper & baking pan

Method:

SPONGE

In small bowl mix 2 tablespoons lukewarm water, 3 tbsp (25 gm) flour and yeast , cover with cling film and let rise 60 minutes.

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 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, sugar and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour.
5. Increase the speed a little.
6. Add the third yolk, 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 it is elastic and makes threads.
9. Add the butter at room temperature and as soon as the butter is adsorbed add the last tablespoon of flour.
10. Keep on mixing till the dough passes the window pane test.
11. Cover the dough with cling film and let it proof until it has tripled in volume for 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 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 it rise in a warm spot until the dough reaches the top of the pan (about 1 hour).
18. Pre-heat oven to 340°F/170°C/gas mark 3.
19. Bake the Savarin for about 40 minutes until the top is golden brown. (My mini versions took 20 minutes for baking)
20. Meanwhile prepare the Syrup.
21. When the Savarin is done take it out of the oven and let it cool.  Carefully remove out of the pan.
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 and keep adding ladles of syrup until you see it along the rim of the pan. Alternatively 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
24. The soaked Savarin gains in flavor the next day
25. Whatever you decide the day you want to serve 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 (For Soaking the sponge)

For the above mini versions of Baba or Savarin I needed this amount of syrup to soak them up nicely.

Ingredients:

Peach tea - 1 1/2 cup
Peach juice - 3 cup
Water - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
I used zest of 1 orange
One cinnamon stick
Good quality Rum - 1/2 cup (optional)

Method:

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 and good quality rum if using.
4. Use this syrup for soaking.

For Glaze :

Ingredients :

2 tablespoons (30 ml) apricot Jam
2 tablespoons water
 
Method :

1.In a saucepan mix jam and water and warm up.
2.When the savarin is cool and soaked brush it with the glaze.

 

Crème Patisserie & Whipped cream

Ingredients:

Milk - 500 ml
Butter - 20 g
Sugar - 100 g
Egg yolk - 100gm (Approximately 5 to 6 eggs)
All purpose flour - 50 gm
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tbsp
Heavy cream - 400 ml
Sugar - 3 tbsp
Gelatin - 1 tsp
Water for Gelatin - 1 tbsp


Note:

Prepare the pastry cream for the filling in advance.

Method:

1. Mix egg yolk and ¾ of sugar in a pan until perfectly smooth.
2. Add the sifted flour to the egg yolk and mix again.
3. Add the remaining sugar together with the butter to the milk (in a large saucepan) and bring it to a boil.
4. Now pour half of the hot milk into the bowl with the egg / sugar. Stir and then return the mixture back into the large saucepan.
5. Keep heating and stirring until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract.
6. You’re finished when you see big bubbles in the Pastry cream.
7. Pour the hot pastry cream onto a baking pan or another shallow pan, so it cools down quickly.
8. The pastry cream that we need in a moment to mix with the whipped cream should be at room temperature.
9. Put the gelatin powder in small microwavable glass and add a tbsp of cold water.
10 Then, set aside.
11. Add the sugar to the heavy cream and whip until it forms soft peaks. Then, whisk by hand until it forms stiff peaks.
12. Dissolve the gelatin in the microwave.
13. Mix the gelatin and a little pastry cream in a bowl. Add the remaining pastry cream and mix well.
14. Reserve 1/2 of the whipped cream for decorating or topping and mix other half with the pastry cream that is in room temperature.
15. Fold in the whipped heavy cream in two steps into pastry cream until they are blended well.

ASSEMBLING :

Glaze the the soaked sponge, cut them to 3/4 th horizontally, fill it with Crème Patisserie and top it with whipped cream.  Garnish with the fruits and serve chilled.

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FILLED PATE A CHOUX SWANS - DARING BAKERS CHALLENGE AUGUST 2012

Kat of The Bobwhites was our August 2012 Daring Baker hostess who inspired us to have fun in creating pate a choux shapes, filled with crème patisserie or Chantilly cream. We were encouraged to create swans or any shape we wanted and to go crazy with filling flavors allowing our creativity to go wild! 

You’ll find recipes for vanilla, chocolate and coffee Crème Patisserie from May 2010 Daring bakers challenge, Croquembouche. 

Here is the link for CROQUEMBOUCHE/PIECE MONTEE
 

PATE A CHOUX

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Eggs - 4 or 5 large (add depending on the consistency of the batter)

Butter - 6 tbsp

 

Method:

Preparing batter:

1. Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

2. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

3. Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

4. Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

5. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

6. At this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs. 

Piping:

1. Using a ¼” (6 mm) tip on a pastry bag, pipe out about 36 swan heads. You’re aiming for something between a numeral 2 and a question mark, with a little beak if you’re skilled and/or lucky.

2. Remove the tip from the bag and pipe out 36 swan bodies. These will be about 1.5” (40 mm) long, and about 1” (25 mm) wide. One end should be a bit narrower than the other.

Baking:

1. Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more.

2. Bake the heads and bodies until golden and puffy. The heads can be baked in the lower temperature to 350 F for 20 minutes.  The heads will be done a few minutes, so keep a close eye on the baking process. Remove to a rack and cool.

 

VANILLA CREME

Ingredients :

All-purpose flour - 2 tablespoons

Sugar - ½ cup

Egg yolks - 4 large well beaten

Milk - 1 cup

Vanilla extract - 1 cup

Unflavored gelatin - 1 tablespoon

Heavy Whipping cream - 1 cup 

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan combine gelatin, flour, and sugar. Mix very well.

2. Add milk and egg yolks and turn heat to medium-low.

3. Stir almost constantly until mixture is thick enough to cover the back of your spatula or spoon. This should take about 10 minutes.

4. Once thick, immediately dump into a bowl, straining the mixture if you are concerned about lumps of cooked egg.

5. Add the vanilla, and mix in well.

6. Cover the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and chill for about 45 minutes.

7. You do not want the mixture to set, just to continue thickening.

8. Now is a good time to begin your choux paste.

9. In a large bowl, beat cream until light peaks form.

10. Carefully fold the vanilla mixture into the whipped cream until the mixture is well-blended and fairly smooth.

11. Refrigerate mixture if not using immediately.

Assembly:

    Take a swan body and use a very sharp knife to cut off the top 1/3rd to ½.

    Cut the removed top down the center to make two wings.

    Dollops a bit of filling into the body, insert head, and then add wings.

ENJOY THE LIGHT AIRY DESSERT!!!!

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PIECE MONTEE OR CROQUEMBOUCHE - DARING BAKERS MAY 2010

This month's daring bakers challenge was quite interesting and I really enjoyed making it as well as eating because its our favorite one " Cream Puff ". But the real challenge is arranging them to a "Piece Montee" which means "Mounted piece". This is also called as "Croquemboche" means "crunch in mouth" . It is a high cone of profiteroles (choux filled with pastry cream) sometimes dipped in chocolate bound with caramel, and usually decorated with threads of caramel, sugared almonds, chocolate, flowers, or ribbons. It is a traditional wedding cake in France and also served in baptisms, and first communions.

I filled my puff (half batch) with my favorite Vanilla Crème Patisserie and other (half batch) with my husband's favorite coffee pastry cream. Offcourse my son loves both. Since I had so much strawberries I thought of arranging the croquemboche with berries which will be apt for spring too. Caramel acted as glue for my Piece Montee. Hope you all will enjoy my Piece Montee. Thanks cat for this wonderful challenge.

Blog-checking lines: The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

Preparation time:

You will want to use your puff pastry batter and chocolate glaze or caramel as soon as it has been prepared and as close to serving time as possible. This is not a dessert that stores well and it may be a bit temperamental in humid areas as the glaze needs to harden to hold the choux together. The crème patisserie can be made a couple of days in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to use.

You will need approximately 10 minutes to prepare the puff pastry, 10 minutes to pipe and about 30 minutes to bake each batch. The crème patisserie should take about 10 minutes to cook and then will need to be cooled for at least 6 hours or overnight. The glazes take about 10 minutes to prepare.

Equipment required:

• several baking sheets
• parchment paper
• a whisk
• a pastry brush (for the egg wash)
• a pastry bag and tip (a plain tip or no tip is best for piping the puff pastry; you can use a plain or star tip to fill the puff pastry with the cream)
• a flat surface such as a baking sheet or cake board/stand on which to assemble your piece montée
• some of the items you may want to use to decorate your piece montée include ribbons, Jordan almonds, fresh flowers, sugar cookie cut-outs, chocolates, etc.

Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Crème Patisserie (Half Batch)

1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.

Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.

Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

For Chocolate Pastry Cream (Half Batch Recipe):

Bring ¼ cup (about 50 cl.) milk to a boil in a small pan; remove from heat and add in 3 ounces (about 80 g.) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, and mix until smooth. Whisk into pastry cream when you add the butter and vanilla.

For Coffee Pastry Cream (Half Batch recipe):

Dissolve 1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder in 1 ½ teaspoons boiling water. Whisk into pastry cream with butter and vanilla.

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)

¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:

Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:

Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

Filling:

When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.

Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.

Chocolate Glaze:

8 ounces/200 g. finely chopped chocolate (use the finest quality you can afford as the taste will be quite pronounced; I recommend semi-sweet)

Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Stir at regular intervals to avoid burning. Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. Use immediately.

Hard Caramel Glaze:

1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

Assembly of your Piece Montée:

You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.

Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. (You may want to use toothpicks to hold them in place – see video #4 below).

When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate. Have fun and enjoy! Bon appétit!

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