CAKE
450g/3¼ cups strong white bread flour
10g/2tsp salt
15g/4tsp easy-action yeast
75g/⅓ cup caster/superfine sugar
160ml/⅔ cup milk
4 eggs
200g/¾ cup + 2tbsp butter, softened
SYRUP
200g/1 cup caster/superfine sugar
100ml/scant ½ cup Marsala
ROASTED FRUIT
150g/5½oz fresh figs
300g/10oz red grapes
150g/½ cup honey
WITH
60g/½ cup icing/confectioner’s sugar
300ml/1¼ cups double cream
1tsp vanilla bean paste, or seeds from a vanilla pod/bean
EQUIPMENT
A large bundt tin/pan
In Isak Dinesen’s novella, the guests finish the meal with pudding wine, and a plate of grapes, figs, and peaches. But in the film version, a cake appears: a booze-soaked savarin with fruit and cream. It’s a rich dessert, so I’d leave your guests a good hour or so between the bird pie main and this, but it is New Year’s Eve. There’s a lot of evening to fill. Bringing this out at midnight, with a toast to the New Year, would be perfect. The cake can be made the day before, and kept covered somewhere cool. Warm the fruit through before you serve, and whip the cream at the final moment.
Serves 8
1. Pour the flour into a large mixing bowl, and add the salt on one side and the yeast and sugar on the other. Warm the milk to body temperature in a saucepan, and then whisk the eggs into it. Pour over the flour, and bring together with your hands into a dough.
2. If you have one, this next step can de done in a mixer with a dough hook. Knead the dough until soft and elastic; it will take about 5 minutes in a mixer, or around 10 minutes by hand. Start to add the butter in pieces, ensuring that each bit is incorporated before you add the next. Once the butter has all been incorporated, put the dough into a bowl, cover, and leave to rise for an hour or so in a warm place. It should double in size.
3. Once the dough has risen, grease a bundt tin and dust the sides and base with sugar to ensure the finished cake comes out easily. Pour or pipe the dough in, manoeuvring it around so that it is evenly distributed. Cover, and leave to increase in size again by one and a half times; the dough should not quite reach the top of the tin.
4. Preheat the oven to 160C fan/350G/gas 4. Once the dough has risen, transfer the tin to the oven, and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. It should be well risen and golden brown, and a skewer inserted into it should come out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and, while still warm, invert the tin and allow the cake to fall onto a cooling rack. If necessary, you can guide a flat knife around the edges to loosen it first. Gently place the cake on a dish or plate with a lip; something that can hold liquid.
6. To make the syrup, warm the sugar and Marsala in a saucepan, until the sugar dissolves. Slowly pour a third of it over the cake, allowing it to soak in and then collect around the bottom. Pour over another third, wait again, and then pour the final third over the cake. Allow it to stand for an hour, and then wrap it carefully in plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge overnight if you’re making it in advance.
7. To prepare the fruit, line a roasting tray with parchment paper and turn the oven to 200C fan/425F/gas 7. Halve the figs, but leave the grapes whole, and arrange them in one layer in the tray. Drizzle over the honey, and roast for 30 minutes until caramelised.
8. When you’re ready to serve, sieve the icing sugar into the cream, and whip it to soft peaks. Whisk through the vanilla. Serve slices of the cake with a spoonful of the warm fruit, and the cream.