The 100th Bake: Dark Chocolate & Almond Liqueur Savarin
I made it to triple figures, Yay. Can’t believe it. One step at a time and I’m nearly there. Just living the moment and not thinking too much about what lay ahead has helped make this task less daunting.
This was one of those Saturday bakes, when I knew I had all day and could take my time. I needed it! This is not a regular cake, it’s a “rich yeast cake”, soaked in almond liqueur syrup. It comes out light and fluffy and moist. Quite unusual. The dough contains yeast and sugar, salt, milk and eggs, so had to be mixed and proved twice for an hour each time, in order to rise before baking. Now that was plenty of time for contemplation! It’s something I have noticed recently, that seems to be a lost art. When do you see people waiting at bus stops, even walking down the street, just taking in their surroundings and giving their brains time to download and process all the information we pile into it daily. There is usually a device in hand, even at family picnics, its the devices that are reached for to check out status or likes or just what everyone else in the world is doing. I’m guilty of it too but I have to admit I do get my best ideas when I take time out to think. 🙂
As Luther Standing Bear an Oglala Sioux chief once said “I am going to venture that the man who sat on the ground in his tipi mediating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all creatures, and acknowledging unity with the universe of things was infusing into his being the true essence of civilization.”
Melted choc into the mixture 
Proved twice and baked 
Almond liqueur syrup to soak the cake in
So this recipe involved quite a few steps. I melted the chocolate and set this aside to cool. Then put the flour, yeast, salt, sugar and cocoa powder
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Being a sunny long weekend was a good time to make bread. I weighed out the flour, ground sea salt and yeast and put them in the mixing bowl fitted with a dough hook. I then added the luke warm milk, melted butter and golden syrup and mixed them together slowly. I love that machine, so wonderful seeing the ingredients of bread combining so effortlessly. A friend of mine this weekend undertook to be the first woman to sail the Coastal Classic solo. She was more than 29 hours at the helm, sailing from Waitemata Harbour in Auckland to Russel. Now that’s something. 
Not effortless but a dream come true, and a challenge accomplished, her Dad being one of the founders of the race in 1982. Fantastic to take your skills and use them to the best of your ability to achieve goals that you set for yourself. Now that’s living! 🙂