Hi, all!

The brioche cakes interest me—I like it that, even with the syrup, they have less sugar than a normal butter cake.  However, I can’t grasp what the texture is.

I like to soak up any amount of a nice, salty Italian dressing with Italian bread—or beef juices—but I don’t know if this is what I want in a cake.

Is the syruped cake like soaked bread?  What is the texture?

FWIW, I wasn’t crazy about the Almond Shamah Chiffon, which is syruped until the crumb is almost wet.

Thanks for your thoughts!

—ak

Anne, syruped brioche doesn’t need to be as soggy as bread that has soaked up soup or dressing.  I’ve made the savarin probably 15 or 20 times- 10 of those the first summer I discovered how much I love it- and I would say that it is plenty moist, but stops just shy of soggy.  When I make it I cut back on both rum and sugar in the syrup, but leave the water as is.  That suits my taste perfectly. 

For you, I would recommend starting out with the syrup exactly as written, but reduce it by something like 25%.  You could make the full amount but only put 75% on the cake, then save the rest in case you feel it isn’t enough, so you can spoon a little on each slice as you serve it.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think the coffee chiffon in RHC is your cup of tea, so to speak- it needs the syrup to give full coffee flavor but is pretty moist.  I liked it but I think as a base for a fairly wet cake I probably like the genoise better.  Genoise is drier to begin with than chiffon, maybe that’s why.

What are you thinking of making?  Just writing this makes me long for a savarin…

Thanks, Julie!

I’m thinking of making the ring with the lemon & kirsch syrup, the strawberries in the middle and whipped cream on the strawberries. 

I only have a 4 cup savarin ring, though, so I’d only make 2/3 recipe.  I might make a full recipe and bake the other 1/3 in a “homemade” 2c. aluminum foil pan, so I can see what it’s like without damaging the one I’d bring to work.

I just can’t imagine what the texture is!! 

Oh, also, I don’t have a power mixer or a food processor—can this be made by hand?

Brioche can be made by hand but it’s a very soft, sticky dough and it needs a thorough kneading.  Try not to add any more flour when kneading, and perhaps look up the Bertinet method on youtube before you start in case you need to use it on the soft, sticky dough.  Make sure the butter is quite soft for kneading into the dough, softer than you would normally have it for a cake.

good luck!