Often served with fruit and cream, our petite versions of Biscuit de Savoie are sliced in half horizontally and piped with strawberry preserves and Sweetened Whipped Cream for a presentation that is très jolie. Pictured with our Croquant d’Amandes and Blueberry Tartlets.
Biscuit de Savoie
Serves: 18
Oddly named, Biscuit de Savoie is neither a cookie nor is it twice baked (biscuit in French), though it does hail from Frances Savoy region. The dessert, which is thought to have originated in the 14th century, is actually a delicate gâteau—a sponge cake, really—typically baked in a ring mold.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup plus 3 teaspoons caster sugar, divided
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- ¾ cup cake flour, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup strawberry preserves
- Sweetened Whipped Cream (recipe follows)
- Garnish: confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spread room temperature butter into 18 wells of a 20-well mini fluted tube pan*. Sprinkle 3 teaspoons caster sugar into prepared wells.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, remaining ¾ cup caster sugar, and lemon zest until smooth. Stir in cake flour until combined.
- In a large bowl, beat together egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Stir one-third of egg white mixture into yolk mixture until fully incorporated and no white streaks remain. Repeat gently with remaining two-thirds of egg whites, being careful not to overmix or deflate whites by folding. Divide batter among prepared wells of pan, approximately 2 tablespoons each.
- Bake until cake edges are light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Carefully remove cakes from pan and let cool completely on wire racks.
- Using a sharp serrated bread knife in a gentle sawing motion, cut cakes in half horizontally.
- In a small bowl, stir strawberry preserves until smooth. Transfer preserves to a pastry bag fitted with a small round pastry tip (Wilton #10). Pipe strawberry preserves onto cut side of bottom half of each cake.
- Place Sweetened Whipped Cream in a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip (Wilton #28). Pipe Sweetened Whipped Cream over strawberry preserves in a scrolling pattern. Cover with top halves of cakes, cut side down.
- Garnish with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
Make-Ahead Tip: Cakes can be prepared early in the day and stored at room temperature in an airtight container. Assemble, refrigerate, and serve within an hour. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.
*We used a Wilton 20-cavity mini fluted tube pan.
*We used a Wilton 20-cavity mini fluted tube pan.
Sweetened Whipped Cream
Serves: Approximately 1 cup
Also known as crème chantilly, this sweet topping can be prepared in just a couple of minutes. Feel free to add a splash of a favorite extract to further enhance the taste, if you’d like.
Ingredients
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together cream and sugar at high speed until medium stiff peaks form. Use immediately.
Grimod de la Reyniere (1758-1838), a Frenchman from Lyon, and being gourmand, was l´enfant terrible of the French gastronomie. He published from 1803 to 1812 an ´Almanach des gourmands` which is now rare. By the way, the so-called biscuit de savoie or baba is not only drunk with tea, but also with champagne!