Pecan, Date and Honey Savarin, Honeycomb, Yoghurt Sorbet
Pecan, Date and Honey Savarin, Honeycomb, Yoghurt Sorbet

Pecan, Date and Honey Savarin, Honeycomb, Yoghurt Sorbet

  • Prep time:

  • Cook time:

  • Total time:

  • Portion/Yield:

    Serves 6

  • Difficulty:

    Intermediate

Mothers day is fast approaching, where is the year going?? Not so long ago I was making Christmas puddings and now we are planning puddings for mothers day. Crazy when you are having fun!

This recipe is a delicious and innovative twist on the classic sticky toffee pudding. These puddings are light and surprisingly not as sweet as what you would expect. Using rapeseed oil and honey make a huge difference keeping the puddings soft, crumbly and moist. I bought these savarin moulds (savarin refers to the name of the mould, characteristically a savarin mould is shallow and has a hole in the center) from Lakelands online shop and they are the perfect size. I shall definitely be using them in the summer for fabulous homemade jellies.

The savarin itself is a light soft crumbly textured cake and the yoghurt sorbet has a sharp lemony twist the combination of adding honeycomb as a garnish adds texture and the added balanced bit of bitter sweetness to the dessert.

Instead of making your own sorbet use a good quality shop bought vanilla ice cream instead. The pecan nuts can be substituted for walnuts or hazelnuts.photo of Pecan, Date and Honey Savarin, Honeycomb, Yoghurt Sorbet

Ingredients & Method

Yoghurt Sorbet

  • 175ml water
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 400ml natural full fat yoghurt
  • 50ml lemon juice

Pecan, Date and Honey Savarin

  • 100g pitted dates, finely diced
  • 75 boiling water
  • 50g unsalted butter
  • 90g muscavado sugar
  • 2 large free range eggs
  • 40g plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powered
  • 90g pecan nuts, finely chopped
  • 4 tablespoons clear runny honey
  • 50ml rapeseed oil
  • 1/2 lemon zest and juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Savarin Syrup

  • 50g sugar
  • 1 tablespoon glucose
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 150ml water
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon brandy

Honeycomb

  • 1 tablespoon clear runny honey
  • 1 tablespoon glucose
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 1 tablespoons warm water
  • 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

First prepare the sorbet: In a small saucepan over medium heat dissolve the sugar in the water, bring it to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer the syrup to a mixing bowl and add the yoghurt and lemon juice. Churn the sorbet in a ice cream maker, following the instructions of the manufacturer. Once churned, transfer the sorbet to a container and freeze till needed. Will keep for up to one month in the freezer.

For the savarin: Preheat the oven to 180 °C and lightly grease six 13cm savarin cake moulds. Soak the dates in the boiling water for 20 minutes, once softened puree the dates using a stick blender. In a mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy, slowly add the egg bits at a time, beat well after each addition. Sift the flour and baking powder over the cream butter mix and fold in, add the pureed dates, pecan nuts, honey, oil, lemon zest and juice and ground cinnamon, lightly mix, do not over work the batter. This will make a fairly runny batter. Divide the batter between the greased savarin moulds, place them on a baking tray in the per-heated oven for 16 -18 minutes, until well risen and cooked, let them cool for 5 minutes then carefully turn them out onto a cooling rack leaving to cool completely at room temperature.

While the savarins are baking prepare the syrup. In a small saucepan over medium heat dissolve the sugar, honey, glucose in the water, add the cinnamon stick, once dissolved bring the syrup to the boil for 8 minutes and set aside to infuse and cool at room temperature.

Make the honeycomb: Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper. In a medium saucepan over medium heat dissolve the hone, glucose and sugar in the water, once dissolved increase the heat, do not stir and cook the syrup till a light brown caramel, remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the bicarbonate of soda, the mix will foam and double in volume quickly then pour it out onto the baking tray and leave to cool completely.

To serve, place the savarin cakes on serving plates, drizzle over the syrup, crumb honeycomb into the centre of the savarin, place a large scoop of sorbet on top and grate over pecan nut using a microplane and server immediately.