Savarin Cakes

Learn how to make Savarin, a delicious yeasted cake that is soaked in syrup then served with cream and fruits. You can use the same cake recipe to make Rum Baba (Baba au Rhum), another French classic. The difference between these two desserts resides mostly in their shape. While the Rum Baba is usually baked in a cylindrical mold, the Savarin has a ring/donut shape. The Rum Baba will also sometimes include raisins.

Ingredients

Savarin dough

• Flour: All-purpose flour, to give structure and elasticity to the dough so it can rise well.

• Eggs: For hydration and structure. The eggs will also add flavor, richness (especially the yolks). It’s best to weigh the eggs in a bowl once cracked as they can vary in size.

• Butter: Unsalted butter, for richness and flavor. You should ideally use European-style butter which has a higher fat content (at least 82%) and less water than American brands. We’ll be using softened butter for this recipe. If your kitchen is very cold or you forgot to take out the butter ahead of time, you can briefly microwave it to soften it.

• Yeast: Fresh cake yeast, for an airy, spongy cake that can soak up a lot of syrup without falling apart.

• Milk: A little bit of lukewarm milk to dissolve the yeast and for moisture, richness and flavor.

• Flavorings: A little bit of sugar and salt, to flavor the dough. We won’t be using much sugar in the dough since we’ll be soaking the Savarins in syrup.

Syrup

Although this dessert usually features a generous amount of alcohol, I chose to make a fruity version today where alcohol is optional so anyone can enjoy it.

• Liquid: I’m using water and orange juice for this recipe. But you can really have fun and replace the orange juice with other types of juice and/or change the proportions. The main thing to keep in mind is that you should have about twice the amount of sugar in liquid. So for 100 g of sugar, use about 200 g of liquid. Using equal amounts of sugar and liquid yields a very sweet syrup which is also thicker and doesn’t get absorbed as well. Too much liquid, and the Savarin might become soggy and a bit bland.

• Sugar: White granulated sugar, for sweetness.

• Fruits: Oranges and lemons. We’ll be using the peel to infuse the syrup with wonderful fruity flavor and orange juice to replace part of the water. You can use a vegetable peeler to peel the colorful layer of the fruits. Try to avoid the white pith which is bitter.

• Rum/Cognac: Completely optional. You can use as much or as little as you want and use whatever type of beverage you prefer. Just keep in mind that the syrup is already sweet so you might want to avoid using a large amount of sweet liqueur for example.

Now that we have all our ingredients ready, we can make the dough. I like to prepare a starter, which makes the recipe a bit more time-consuming but improves the texture of the cake. It’s also a good way to test if the yeast is active before wasting more ingredients. But if you are in a rush, you can skip it (explained in the recipe card).

Making The Dough

For the starter

Since we are working with small quantities, I find it easier to mix the starter in a small bowl. You can then transfer it to the mixing bowl when it’s time to mix the dough. If you’d rather mix it straight into the mixing bowl to avoid more dishwashing (I feel you!), it’s best to use a bowl with a narrow bottom.

• Crumble the fresh yeast into the bowl then add the milk and whisk to combine.

Tip: Make sure the milk is at the right temperature when added to the yeast (about 40°C/104°F). If it’s too hot, it will kill the yeast and your dough won’t rise.

• Then add part of the flour and mix until smooth.

• Cover and let it rise until bubbly and doubled in volume.

For the dough

• Transfer the starter to a mixing bowl and add the remaining flour, sugar and salt.

• Add about 2/3 of the eggs and mix until combined and elastic.

• Add the remaining eggs and keep mixing until fully incorporated and the dough starts to lightly pull away from the sides of the bowl.

• Add the softened butter and mix until the dough is elastic.

• Pipe the dough evenly into the cavities of a greased donut pan, filling them halfway.

This dough is quite runny and is best piped into the mold. You can use a knife if needed to cut the dough once you finish piping as it is too sticky to handle.

• Let rise until doubled in volume and almost to the rim, about 2 hours then bake until golden brown.

Soaking The Savarin

There are several ways to soak the Savarin:

1. My preferred method is to let the savarin cool down completely before soaking it in warm (not hot) syrup which is at around 40°C.
2. Some people prefer soaking the hot Savarin in cold syrup. But freshly baked Savarin might be fragile and fall apart.
3. You could make a large amount of syrup and submerge the Savarin. It’s ready once it sinks. The downside to this method is that you would need to prepare much more syrup.

Temperature of the syrup: The syrup should be at around 40°C/104°F, just barely warm to the touch. Too hot and the Savarins will start to fall apart. Too cold and you’ll end up with dry Savarins that haven’t soaked up much syrup.

• To make the syrup, simply bring to a boil all of the ingredients (water, orange juice, sugar, orange and lemon peel) except for the alcohol.
• Remove from the heat and cool down to about 40°C/104°F and add alcohol if desired.

• Place the Savarins in the syrup. Let them soak for a few minutes, turning them often and drizzling them with more syrup using a large spoon.

How to tell if you soaked them enough? Try gently pressing the savarin with your finger. If you notice any dry spots, keep soaking it. A soaked savarin will also feel heavier and you could weigh it to see how much syrup it has absorbed. Once soaked, it should weigh about 2.5 times its original weight although this will depend on how long you soak it and how dry it was.

Serve with Chantilly cream and fruits. Enjoy!

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