Savarin Cake
I can already hear you… (some of you) “that’s not how you make Savarina!” “this isn’t the recipe for Savarina” “But grandma….”
I also have a piece of advice for you: search on Google Images for “Savarin” and see where this cake started from, where it ended up (out of necessity and due to the lack of ingredients during communism), and where I tried to bring it back.
And now that we’ve cleared that up (from my point of view), let me tell you that this version of Savarina Cake is the most wonderful thing you can eat, so you absolutely have to make it too, and share it with your loved ones!
For a 20 cm cake, approx. 1.9 kg:
For the Sponge:
200 g Flour (strong, about 11% protein)
270 g Egg
10 g Lemon Zest
Mix the eggs with the lemon zest, warm them slightly over a bain-marie, and gradually add them to the flour in the stand mixer bowl, mixing at increasingly higher speed with the paddle attachment. Don’t add too much egg at once, to avoid excessive hydration at the start and allow gluten to develop.
8 g Fresh Yeast
20 g Sugar
70 g Butter
When you’ve added almost all the egg mixture, you can add the yeast, continuing to mix at maximum speed. When the dough is ready (very elastic, with strong gluten development), add the sugar followed by the room-temperature butter, and mix until incorporated.
Pipe the dough into a mold using a pastry bag and let it proof for about 30 minutes, then bake at 145 °C with fan for 40–45 minutes.
For the Syrup:
3750 g Water
1875 g Sugar
8 pcs Vanilla Extract
8 pcs Rum Extract
Put all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Trim the sponge so that only the “nice” part remains (see video) and soak it in the syrup.
The hotter the syrup (and sponge), the faster and more thoroughly it soaks. I used a pizza rack and a wide tray to soak the sponge, since it becomes very fragile and hard to remove from the syrup without breaking (see in video). Let the sponge drain the excess syrup and cool completely (in the fridge, covered) before continuing.
For the Raspberry Insert:
260 g Raspberry Purée
14 g Starch
20 g Sugar
Mix the sugar with the starch, then pour the lukewarm (~30 °C) raspberry purée over them. Transfer everything to a saucepan and cook for 1–2 minutes until it thickens, then transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap in contact, and chill.
Once the sponge and insert have cooled, use a serrated knife to cut a groove about 2 cm deep and 1 cm wide all around the top of the sponge. Fill with the raspberry insert, and in the center of the cake add plenty of fruit (I used berries, strawberries, figs, etc.).
For the Pistachio Cream:
350 g Whipping Cream
150 g Mascarpone
30 g Powdered Sugar
75 g 100% Pistachio Paste
Combine all ingredients in the stand mixer bowl and whip on medium speed until you get a very stable cream. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with an éclair tip (16 mm). I piped a spiral on top of the cake but, of course, you can decorate in any pattern you like.
The idea is that each slice should have some insert, enough cream, and plenty of fruit that “falls out” from the center.
