The Savarin/Baba Cake Recipe - (2024)

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Easy & Stylish Egyptian Recipes

Chez NermineCourse, Dessert, Egyptian Cuisine, International Cuisines, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Tea TimeAbby Bookstore, boozy cake, cake, Cointreau, dessert, french cuisine, Grand Marnier, orange, Savarin, syrupy, yeast cake4 Comments

The Savarin/Baba Cake Recipe - (2)

TheFrench gateau Savarin (also known as Baba)is a boozyFrenchyeasted and syrup-drenched cake. Yet, Egypt has got its alcohol-free version.

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Savarin Patisserie

According to the book French, Savarin wascreated by the Parisian patisseries “Auguste Julien” in honor of a renowned French politician, lawyer, and gastronome, Jean-Anthelme Brillat Savarin.

You might be wondering, how did this French patisserie landed in the Egyptian’s repertoire of cakes?!

Savarin or Baba in Egypt

Those who are questioning the lifestyle in Egypt centuries ago should glimpse at its cuisine. It explains it all.

Growing up in Alexandria, Egypt, I was lucky to watch the pleasant traces of a bygone cosmopolitan era, when Alexandria used to be a safe Heaven for various western expat communities such as Greek, Italian and Armenian, just to name few.

The salient contributions of those European expats enriched the economic, social and cultural life and had its inevitable, vast impact on the country’s gastronomy.

Gateau de Savarin or Baba as known in Egypt is one of the beautiful traces of Italian and French influence on Egyptian bakery.

Savarin/Baba a La Egyptienne

As a child, my grandparents used to treat me almost every weekend at a fine western bakery. My favorite was “Manna.” My guess is that it was founded by an Italian artisan who later sold it to a local Egyptian who successfully managed to sustain both the spotless reputation and the immaculate quality of its products.

At Manna’s, a plethora of mind-blowing and freshly madegateaux wereaesthetically showcased. They were individual yet sizeable cakes, and choosing one, among many tempting ones, was an exciting challenge that always held a nice surprise at the end. After so many trips over the years to the same bakery, I had finally identified a favorite:Savarin (alsoknown as Baba).

My childhood gateau de Savarin, as I knew it, was a syrupy and airy yeast individual cake, horizontally split in half to encase juicy, fresh seasonal fruits topped by a tangy cloud of whippedcrème fraîche.

Syrup Soaked Dessert

Traditionally, Savarin should be soaked in a simple syrup mixed with Rum. Yet, for religious reasons, only the non-alcoholic version was found in Egyptian bakeries.

Years away from my home town and country of origin, I watched how Savarin has morphed into some sort of remote sweet memory, up until a God-sent cookbook brought it back to life.

How to Make Gateau Savarin/BABA

“FRENCH, The Secrets of Classic Cooking Made Easy”,offers a flawless recipe for an authentic Savarin/Baba.

FRENCHis the book I strongly recommend to aficionados of French cooking techniques. It is a simplified and detailed guide (in English) of all the classic of French cuisine in English. I owned that book for over 10 years, yet I keep going back to it to check French techniques and recipes.

All you need to make savoring is a few simple ingredients found in the pantry of a casual baker. The cake is made of an eggy dough like brioche that is left to rise and then baked.

Once the baked cake is cooled, it is drenched in simple syrup.

Traditionally, Savarin or Baba cake is drenched with a simple syrup infused with liquor such as Grand Mariner. However, the Egyptian version is alcohol -free.

Instead of liquor the simple syrup could be infused with floral notes such as rose blossom or warm notes as cardamom, cinnamon and cloves notes for an alcohol.

Mini Savarin/Baba is the Perfect Grand Finale

Since then, Savarin became a celebrated grand finale to many formal and informal dinners chez moi.

The Savarin/Baba Cake Recipe - (3)

For formal dinners, I prefer baking it in individual mini bundt molds. I serve it, nested in a pool of boozy syrup and decorated with fresh red fruits. A non-alcoholic and family-friendly version is possible, as orange juice could substitute liqueur.

In my recipe below, I added two whole cloves and Cointreau (orange liqueur) instead of Kirsh (cherry liqueur) to my simple syrup. Additionally, I mixed in the batter some orange zest to enjoy a refreshing aroma when the cake is baked.

Check Out More Egyptian Desserts:

Also, you might like:

  • Orange Almond Cake
  • Basbousa
  • Balah Al Sham

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The Savarin/Baba Cake Recipe - (5)

Adapted from “FRENCH, The Secrets of French Classic Recipes Made Easy”

Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS

For the cake

  • 1 tablespoon instant dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup superfine sugar, divided
  • Warm water
  • 2 1/4 cupsall-purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 tablespoonvanilla extract
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • Fresh fruits to decorate
  • 1 1/4 whipping cream, sweetened to taste and whipped to serve

For the syrup

  • 1 1/4 cup caster sugar
  • 2 1/2 cup water
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 2 tablespoons Cointreau (optional)
  • For the glaze:
  • Orange jam, melted

DIRECTIONS

1- Add the yeast, water and one tablespoon of sugar in a small bowl. Stir and cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap. Keep in a warm place for a few minutes until frothy.

2- Butter or oil spray a 9-inch ring mold or 12 individual mini-ring molds. Addthe flour, and remaining superfine sugar in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. With the machine running, slowly add the yeast mixture, beaten eggs, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and continue mixing until a soft and elastic dough forms. Add the butter and pulse about 10 minutes, until all the butter is incorporated.

3-Place pieces of the dough spaced in the mold to allow space for the rising dough. Tap the mold gently to release any air bubbles. Cover with a dishtowel and leave in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour. The dough should double in volume and come to the top of the mold.

4- Place the cake on a baking sheet and put it in a preheated 200° oven. Immediately reduce the temperature to 180° and bake for 25 minutes or until the top has a rich golden color and springs back when touched. Unmold the cake onto a wire rack and let it cool down.

5- Make the Syrup. Mix the sugar, water, orange juice, cloves and bring to a simmer for few minutes until slightlythickened. Remove from heat and let the bubbly syrup set for few minutes and then add the Cointreau.

6-Pour the hot syrup over the cake while it is still warm.

7- Melt some orange jam on low heat and brush the cake with it to give it a shiny vibrant look.

8- Serve the cake cold with whipped cream and decorate it with fresh fruits.

NOTES

  • According to “Bake with Julia Book”, the difference between Savarin cake and Baba Au Rum is that the latter hasraisins in it.
  • Serving some extra boozy syrup next to the cake always makes guests happy.

Related

  1. Hi nermine. Happy January. I’m trying to make a flan cake and the attempts are disastrous. I remembered you told me that you’ve made it before. My issue is that the custard and cake batters do not separate. Any hints on what is the trouble? Thank you.

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    Reply

    1. Hi Nancy, with pleasure. Please send me the recipe you used so I would be able to help and a pic of the cake if you still have it.

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      Reply

  2. Are these oven temperatures Celsius?

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    Reply

    1. Hi Heather, Yes these are Celsius. Thank you for asking. I have to add the C.

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      Reply

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The Savarin/Baba Cake Recipe - (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between a baba and a savarin? ›

What is the difference between a savarin and a baba? Traditionally if the dough is shaped like a donut, the final product is called “savarin”; if the shape resembles a champagne cork, it's called “baba“.

What is baba cake made of? ›

A rum baba or baba au rhum is a small yeast cake saturated in syrup made with hard liquor, usually rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream.

What is the difference between baba and babka? ›

The origins of Baba au Rhum come from the babka - a yeast cake that can still be found in Poland and Ukraine. In fact, Baba means "grandmother", while babka means something more affectionate roughly translating to "little grandmother."' So how did a Polish cake make it to France?

Where did the savarin cake come from? ›

According to the book French, Savarin was created by the Parisian patisseries “Auguste Julien” in honor of a renowned French politician, lawyer, and gastronome, Jean-Anthelme Brillat Savarin. You might be wondering, how did this French patisserie landed in the Egyptian's repertoire of cakes?!

Is savarin same as bundt? ›

What makes a savarin different than your typical Bundt cake is that savarin is a yeast dough. The result is a light and spongy cake with a light, bready aroma that is perfect for soaking up a flavorful syrup. You'll need to plan ahead since the dough needs to rise almost two hours total.

What is savarin in English? ›

Meaning of savarin in English

a kind of cake made with yeast in a ring-shaped mould (= container) and soaked with syrup (= sweet, thick liquid): Dessert was chocolate savarin flavoured with port.

What is a godfather cake? ›

A two-tier Godfather themed cake featuring all hand-modeled and edible elements from the classic movie. The cake is lemon chiffon with a delicious raspberry butter-cream filling, covered in dark chocolate ganache and LMM fondant.

What is funeral cake made of? ›

Technically, funeral cake is a chocolate sheet cake with fudge icing and topped with crunchy pecans and big enough to feed a crowd—which you may recognize as Texas Sheet Cake.

Why is it called Princess Cake? ›

The cake was originally called grön tårta (green cake), but was given the name prinsesstårta or "princess cake" because the Swedish princesses were said to have been especially fond of the cake.

Why do Jews eat babka? ›

Like many Jewish-American specialties, babka originated in Eastern Europe – Poland and Ukraine in particular – in the early 1800s. As a way to use extra challah dough, Jews there would roll up the dough with cinnamon or fruit jam and bake it alongside the challah.

Is Panettone the same as babka? ›

From there they have diverged. All have a rich, yeast-risen, tender crumb; panettone's texture is more like cotton candy with its long, airy strands that literally melt in your mouth, whereas babka and brioche tend to be a bit denser and somewhat chewier, with a high ratio of butter and eggs to flour.

What is babka in Yiddish? ›

Babka is an Eastern European cake-bread. Modern babka is similar in texture to challah, but slightly more cake-like. The name comes from the Slavic babcia, meaning grandmother, which is closely related to the Yiddish bubbe.

What is the oldest cake in the world? ›

The world's oldest known cake, baked during the reign of Pepi II in Egypt between BCE 2251 and 2157. Alimentarium, Vevey, Switzerland. The Egyptians gave us the world's oldest known cake–and also the world's oldest Tupperware as it happens.

Why is it called Devil cake? ›

There are a few theories as to how it got its name. One, it's the decadent counterpart to angel food cake. Two, it's sinfully delicious. Finally, devil's food cake came about during a time when food that was spicy, rich, or dark was described as deviled, like deviled ham and deviled eggs.

What is a savarin cake tin? ›

A savarin tin is a round cake tin which has a hole in the centre. It is the traditional shape for the Yogurt Pot Cake that Nigella makes in Nigellissima - in Italy it is known as ciambella.

What is a savarin pan used for? ›

A savarin tin is a round cake tin which has a hole in the centre. It is the traditional shape for the Yogurt Pot Cake that Nigella makes in Nigellissima - in Italy it is known as ciambella.

What are the unique characteristics of savarin bread? ›

A Savarin is a bigger version of a baba au rhum, and it is baked in a ring mold (with a hole in the centre) instead of a dariole mold and like a baba, it is soaked in rum syrup . Although the traditional alcohol to use is rum, there is no reason why other alcohol and liqueurs cannot be used.

What is the history of savarin? ›

Sovereignty reemerged as a concept in the late 16th century, a time when civil wars had created a craving for a stronger central authority when monarchs had begun to gather power onto their own hands at the expense of the nobility, and the modern nation state was emerging.

What is corn baba? ›

Corn baba {Steamed Corn Cake} | ONLY 3 INGREDIENTS CORN CAKE | Ingredients:2 Cobs of cornMaida- 3 tbspSugar- 3 tbspBaking Soda- 1/2 tsp. Eva Therm. east asian food. Cake.

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