Daring Bakers, May: Savarin

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!


I soaked my savarin in almond-orange syrup, filled it with chocolate mousse, and topped it with strawberries. YUM! Wet cake rocks! It was a flying saucer of tastiness. A total yum pumpkin. I mean look at that thing--it's glorious!







The dough in the mold before rising.


It was late by the time I set the dough in the mold and it took longer than expected for it to rise, so I didn't wait until it reached the top rim on its rise.


It baked it pretty well!


Cooling on the rack overnight so it would dry out before soaking.


It's a flotation device! I'd gladly cling to this thing if I went overboard. I set a plate on top of the mold and it pushed the cake into the syrup enough that the syrup rose to the top of the mold. I left it in there all day while I was at work.


Time to dry out, little buddy!





It was so tasty!

Here's the recipe as Natalia wrote it:
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 addiction.
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.

Mandatory Items: You must use this recipe for the Savarin

Variations allowed: You can create your own syrup to soak the Savarin and choose a different filling to put in the ‘hole’ too!

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: 8/10

Ingredients
2½ cups (600 ml) (12-1/3 oz) (350 gm) bread flour
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

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

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 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

21.When the Savarin is done take it out of the oven, let it cool and remove carefully 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 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

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 savarin

Ingredients
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

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 serving

Ingredients
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

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 savarin

Ingredients
2 tablespoons (30 ml) apricot Jam
2 tablespoons water

Directions:

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

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.

Additional Information:
Folding http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta2_h6Qogp0

*****

For my syrup, I just stirred together a cup of sugar, two cups of  water, and some almond and orange extracts and let them sit overnight while my cake dried out.

For my super simple mousse, I melted half a cup of dark chocolate chips and let it cool while I whipped up a cup of heavy whipping cream to fluffy peaks (mounds!). Then I folded the chocolate into the whipped cream. 

Notes:
My mixer did not like this dough in the last stage after I'd added the egg yolks. When I used my paddle, the dough just stuck to it. When I used my dough hook, the dough was too soft and wet to form a ball so the hook just sort of spun around in the dough. I didn't have the time to develop the gluten as much as I would've liked, and the machine might not have been able to do it before burning out its motor, anyway, so I stopped just shy of the dough's hitting the window stage.

To fold the dough after its first rise, I just buttered my hands up really well and manhandled it. This stuff is sticky!

I'm glad the cake fit fully into the mold during soaking, otherwise it wouldn't have sucked up as much syrup--maybe it's better that I didn't have time to let it rise to the top of the mold! You want as much of it to be in the drink as possible, especially with the looser crumb, which won't move liquid as well as something like cake and is wrapped in a nearly impenetrable crust.

This cake was delicious--definitely a keeper!

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Daring Bakers March: Hidden Veggies!

Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

I decided to go with Chocolate-Covered Katie's garbanzo bean blondies. They're full of beans and gluten-free! AND tasty! No one who ate them knew they were made of beans.


Here's a photo of the batch I made to go with my Battenberg cake. They also make awesome drop cookies!



Check out my fellow DBers' results on our blogroll. Read more!

Daring Bakers, February: Crackers!

Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers!

Ever since my doc asked me to follow a 90-95% Forks Over Knives diet (vegan, with no added fats and processed "white" carbs), baking has been ... not so fun? Luckily, there are a few recipes I was able to find that sort of respected my dietary needs!

Buckwheat crisps
Makes a half-sheet pan full (which is kitchen speak for a regular-sized cookie sheet)

1 cup buckwheat flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tsp himalayan pink salt
1/4 cup water (1/4 cup)

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones until thick dough is formed, adding more water if necessary. Knead dough with hands, it should hold together without stickiness, if the dough is sticky add more flour.
3. Sandwich the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out until flat, thin and the right size for your baking tray. Place the dough parchment side down on your baking tray and remove the top layer.
4. Brush with oil and cook for 15 – 20 minutes, until lightly brown and crisp.

This recipe can be adapted with herbs, spices, seeds, etc.

Brown rice crackers
Makes about 3 dozen

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup cooked brown rice
1 tablespoons flax seeds (optional)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup oil (coconut, safflower, olive, etc.)
1/3 to 1/2 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Lightly oil large baking sheet.
3. In bowl or food processor, mix flour, rice, flax seeds, salt, and oil until combined. Add water a little at a time until dough holds together.
4. Pour onto floured surface and knead a few times to form a ball.
5. Press or roll dough on baking sheet. Score into 1 1/2-inch squares.
6. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until bottoms are golden brown. Cool before removing from pan.

Brown Rice Sunflower Seed Cracker Recipe
Makes about 3 dozen

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. Grease a baking sheet.
3. Grind up the sunflower seeds.
4. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.
5. Add the liquid ingredients and mix until a dough is formed. Make two balls of dough.
6. Put one ball of dough in between two sheets of wax or parchment paper and roll out to 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch.
7. Pull off the top sheet of paper and flip the dough onto the baking sheet.
8. Use a pizza cutter to cut crackers into 1 to 1 1/2 inch squares. Take the edges off and add to the other ball of dough and repeat.
9. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet.

Check out my fellow DBers' cracker projects at our blogroll! Read more!

Daring Bakers, January: Gevulde Speculaas

Francijn of Koken in de Brouwerij was our January 2013 Daring Bakers’ Hostess and she challenged us to make the traditional Dutch pastry, Gevulde Speculaas from scratch! That includes making our own spice mix, almond paste and dough! Delicious!

Oh boy--two of my favorite things: speculoos (Biscoff!) and frangipane (almond cream/paste!). The first time I got Biscoff, I was on an airplane flying to San Francisco. I wanted to thieve them from every person on the plane who was weaker than I was. I didn't. I still kinda regret it . . . anyway, I'd see them here and there--at the Navy Commissary that my parents shopped at in my hometown, the World Market (Cost Plus), and one precious day, in a dedicated Biscoff store in San Francisco. Dreams to come true! This recipe wraps a Biscoff crust around frangipane. Thank the culinary world for this invention.




This dessert is full of magic. It prevents bad things from happening. I'm convinced. Case in point: a cup fell from the top shelf of my dish cabinet but landed safely in a tiny, tiny bag of flour sitting on the counter below. HOW THE HECK??? Magic. I am convinced!











Quick Notes:


Frangipane in Biscoff dough! The bottom layer of speculaas dough topped with almond paste already in the pan with the top layer about to go on top. This is the easiest dough in the world to put together. If it's too crumbly after mixing, just add milk til it comes together. If it tears while rolling and putting in the pan, just squoosh it together. Easy peasy!


Most people decorated their gevulde speculaas with whole almonds, but I used slivers to make my almond paste and didn't have enough to make the painstakingly detailed designs that some of my more willing fellow DBers created. Thus, rolled out stars. It works, what can I say?


Baked! Make sure you use a pan that allows you to easily remove the cake/tart/giant cookie. It won't just pop out. At least, mine wouldn't--no way, no how!


I turned the leftover dough into cookies. Soooo good with tea!

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Daring Bakers, November: (Two of the) Twelve Days of Cookies

Holiday season is the time for sharing and Peta of Peta Eats is sharing a dozen cookies, some classics and some of her own, from all over the world with us.

Peta asked us to bake two kinds of cookies—one from her recipes and one from our own collection. I baked Peta’s piped shortbread rings and Amanda Hesser’s flat and chewy walnut cookies.





Here's some 'splainin'--first, the piped shortbread.


The color of the cookies in this photo is closer to how they actually looked--the sunlight in the previous photo washed them out a bit.




The batter was really light and fluffy after 10 minutes of beating!


Not the best photo, but here's the general difference in color and texture between the just-combined batter and the fully beaten batter. I wonder if I overbeat the batter, though. I halved the recipe, so maybe I didn't need the full 10 minutes of beating the recipe called for. The cookies crumbled whenever anything touched them. You couldn't bite them because they'd turn to dust and make a huge mess. You had to shove the whole thing in your mouth, and if you weren't ready for it, you kinda choked a little bit. The flavor was wonderful, though! Mmmm, tasty shortbread cookie choking chalk! No, really, it was good! I think I just need to rework things--maybe add more flour to give it more structure, or make smaller, more shove-able cookies.


You can see how much definition I lost after baking--not much! According to the recipe, whipping the batter long enough was crucial to making sure you didn't lose much definition during baking--all those ridges would melt away otherwise. The recipe also said to not overbeat. Have fun finding out that middle ground. ;)


Action shot!


It took a couple of rows to figure out the piping technique. No, it didn't matter how thin I piped the cookies or how brown they got--they were all just as crumbly as the next.


Duncan thinks they're pretty in the sunlight, even if they are invading "his" sunlight.

Now, the flat and chewy walnut cookies, but I just call them chocolate chip walnut cookies. This was my first time making them, but I'm looking forward to playing with the recipe!


Mmmm. Got milk? Or coffee or tea or hot chocolate? These are wonderful dunkin' cookies! No beverage? Just dunk 'em in your mouth!


The batter was supposed to be scooped into rounded-tablespoon-sized balls, but my only disher is a little more, um, generous. Make sure you give these babies room to grow--they spread a lot!


Cooling on the rack. Or, you can cool it in your mouth! Soo good warm! Be warned, though--they're really fragile fresh out of the oven. By the time they're cool enough to actually handle, they're cool enough to eat.


They're almost as big as a dessert plate! And to that, I say, "YAY!"

Amanda Hesser’s Flat-and-Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes approximately 30 cookies

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp of baking soda
1 3/4 tsp sea salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups (12 oz) finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
2 cups (8 oz) finely chopped almonds, walnuts

Directions
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Add the flour mixture all at once and blend together on the lowest speed, just until a dough forms. Fold in the chocolate and nuts, on the lowest speed just until blended. Chill the dough for at least one-half hour or up to several days.
3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Drop generously rounded tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto the baking sheet.
4. Bake until the edges are golden brown and the middle still looks wet, 14 to 16 minutes. Don’t overbake, as you will lose the chewiness in texture. Cool slightly on the baking sheet, then transfer to a baking rack.

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Daring Bakers, October: Mille-Feuille

Our October 2012 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Suz of Serenely Full. Suz challenged us to not only tackle buttery and flaky puff pastry, but then take it step further and create a sinfully delicious Mille Feuille dessert with it!


I filled my mille-feuille with white chocolate pastry cream and topped it with white chocolate shavings.

I love making puff pastry, even if it can be an epic, day-long undertaking. Make the dough, rest and let it rise, roll it out, stuff it with butter, fold it up, roll it out, fold it up, rest it longer, roll it out, fold it up, roll it out, fold it up, rest it longer, another round of rolling and folding, then shaping, another rise, then it's done. Luckily, this wasn't a yeasted dough so there wasn't as much rising involved, but it still took several hours to put together. Which brings the bummer home that I burned two of the three leaves of my mille-feuille:



Ah well. I just cut my remaining leaf into three squares and made a single piece of mille-feuille.


At least what I was left with was a flaky, buttery serving that was enough to split between me and my little family. =) It was delicious!

Check out how my fellow DBers fared through our blogroll! Read more!

Pumpkin-Butterscotch Mille-Feuille (Napoleon!)

Pumpkin + Butterscotch = Good Stuff!

That being established, I made pumpkin-butterscotch pudding, spread it between three sheets of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, and topped it with cocoa powder and chopped roasted pecans. It made quite a tasty dish!










Here's the recipe:
2 cups pumpkin-butterscotch pudding, or to taste (see recipe further down)
1 sheet defrosted Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 Tbsp chopped, roasted pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Defrost puff pastry according to directions, unfold, then cut into three equal pieces.
3. Place puff pastry between two sheets of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and place another cookie sheet on top of the pastry so it won't rise.
4. Bake puff pastry for 20 minutes or until golden brown, then cool on the counter.
5. Spread 1/2 cup pudding on each of two of the three pieces of puff pastry, then stack one of the piece on top of the other.
6. Decorate the top piece, which doesn't have pudding on it, by dusting with cocoa powder and sprinkling with pecans.
7. Place top piece on top of the stack and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to set.
8. Slice and enjoy!


Super Quick Pudding Recipe
Ingredients:

1 cup prepared pumpkin (aka canned pumpkin), or to taste since some people will want more or less pumpkin flavor
1 box instant butterscotch pumpkin

1 cup milk, any fat content as you like
Directions:
1. Combine all three ingredients and stir for two minutes until combined. If you want less pumpkin flavor, add 1/4 cup of the pumpkin at a time until you reach the desired taste. Use immediately or refrigerate until needed.

From-Scratch Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
Pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks
2 cups milk (any fat content, though your results will vary), separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoon (28 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:
1. Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks, and 1 cup milk in heatproof bowl and set aside. This bowl will be the bowl of a bain marie. This means your bowl should be able to fit over the top of your bain marie pot while leaving room for at least 1 inch of water and 1 inch of space--in other words, there should be at least 2 inches between the bottom of the bowl and the bottom of the inside of your pot.
2. Start water boiling in the pot of your bain marie, leaving 1 inch of room between the water and the bottom of your bowl. Bring it to a simmer and hold it there over medium-low heat.
3. Warm to simmering the remaining 1 cup of milk in the microwave or in a pot over medium heat, being careful not to scorch.
4. Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking the mixture constantly as you add the milk.
5. Once the hot milk is incorporated, place the bowl on top of your bain marie pot of boiling water and stir the mixture constantly until thickened to a pudding consistency. This will take just a few minutes at the most.
6. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract, then add the pumpkin, tasting as you add until it tastes the way you want it.
7. Allow the pudding to set in the fridge for 4-6 hours until chilled and set. If you're squeamish about pudding skin, stick a sheet of plastic wrap to the top of the pudding.


Process Photos!

Setting the pastry between parchment and sandwiched between two cookie sheets so they don't puff up a lot.


The baked pastry


The top layer set up with stencils and dusted with cocoa powder.


Using Pepperidge Farm puff pastry--the decorated top layer


Pre-pecans.



Bonus! What do you do when you have another sheet of puff pastry to use and some extra pudding? Make fried pies (sez I).




Filling the pastry--two with just pudding, two with pudding, chocolate chunks, pecans, and marshmallows (which was better).


Pinched pies! Sometimes, when you fork your pies, the edges don't seem to want to stick. It helps if you flip the pie over after forking the edges on one side to fork the edges on the other side--then it's like . . . um . . . pie crust velcro!


What a fully fried pie looks like versus a pale pie. Make sure you get your oil hot before frying--I heat it up to about 375 so the temp doesn't drop below 350 when you drop the first pies in. If you don't get your oil hot enough, you'll have to leave your pies in longer to cook through, and that means all those lovely layers will sponge up a LOT of oil. Each side should fry up in less than a minute! After frying, set the pies upright in a paper towel-lined bowl so the oil can drain out.


Fried pies! Read more!