Limoncello Savarin

In these parts Christmas falls in the middle of summer, and while many people strive to keep up the old Northern Hemisphere tradition of roast turkey and all the trimmings, followed by plum pudding, hot weather can make all that heavy food a bit of a burden.

Last week I was contemplating a Christmas pudding ice cream, but as I had to transport my dessert across town to my sister-in-law's, I decided in the end to go for something a little less likely to deteriorate on the journey.

I was thinking along the lines of something light and lemony, perhaps with some strawberries. In the end, inspired by a bottle of Italian Limoncello I had bought from my friends at the Mediterranean Warehouse, I decided to make a savarin.

Savarins are yeast-leavened cakes along the lines of babas and kugelhupfs. Once made, they are drenched in a syrup, usually flavoured with alcohol.

Savarins are generally made in savarin moulds which are a bit like ring tins used for baking cakes. However, as this was a special occasion, I used my more decorative kugelhupf mould.

This is a relatively easy cake batter to make. It needs a couple of periods of rising, but otherwise takes little work.

I chose to fill the center of my savarin with strawberries and decorated the plate with more strawberries. But you could choose blueberries, raspberries, drained canned cherries, pineapple cubes - whatever is seasonal. If you are using fruit that is likely to leech its juices, decorate the cake just before serving.

Limoncello Savarin

1 tablespoon dried yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
150ml warm milk
3 eggs
275g flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
30g icing sugar
90g butter
grated rind of two lemons (make long shreds with a lemon zester)
1/4 cup Limoncello
300 mls water
100g sugar

Sprinkle the sugar and yeast onto the warm milk and set aside for 10 minutes. Whisk to ensure the yeast is smoothly incorporated with the milk. Whisk the eggs together lightly and add to the milk mixture. Sift the flour and salt and make a well in the centre. Pour in the milk and eggs and beat well until the dough is smooth. Cover and put the bowl in a warm place for about 45 minutes. Beat together the softened butter and icing sugar and half the lemon rind until well combined. Beat into the risen dough.

Liberally grease a savarin mould, a ring tin or kugelhupf mould with butter and spoon in the yeast dough. Cover and set aside again until the dough rises enough to almost fill the tin.

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