Babàmisù

Babà

In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the hook, start mixing the flour with about half of the eggs until you have a silky, well-developed dough. Add the honey and let it absorb. Replace the hook with the paddle, add the rest of the eggs and mix well until completely absorbed. The dough must be nice and shiny and come away from the sides of the bowl (it will take about 30 minutes in all). At this point, still mixing, add the salt, the seeds of the vanilla pod and the grated lemon zest. When everything has been absorbed, add the soft butter in small pieces and let it absorb. Lastly add the yeast dissolved in about 10 g of lukewarm water (about 20°C). Leave the dough to rest for about 30 minutes in the mixer bowl, then, with hands greased with butter, shape portions and fill the babà moulds with the dough (about 70 g of dough per mould). Leave to rise in a warm place until it reaches the rim of the mould, which will take at least two hours or more. Bake in a static oven at 200°C for about 20 minutes (with these quantities you will need about 10 medium-sized babà moulds).

Mascarpone cream

Put the sugar and the water in a small pan and cook until the syrup reaches 121°C. Meanwhile start whisking the yolks a little, then pour the syrup over them and whisk well until cool (this is the famous pâte à bombe, which means we have sterilised the yolks). When it has cooled, fold in with a spatula the mascarpone and the whipped cream until you have a nice consistency.

Dark chocolate and coffee cremoso

Mix the sugar with the yolks carefully; meanwhile heat the cream with the milk and dissolve the instant coffee in it. Pour over the yolks and cook like a crème anglaise to 83°C.

When the temperature drops to about 60°C, add the gelatine, soaked beforehand in cold water and squeezed out, and let it dissolve well. Add the melted chocolate and emulsify with an immersion blender without incorporating air, until the texture is smooth and glossy. Leave to rest in the fridge for a couple of hours before using.

Assembling the cake

In a glass bowl, alternate layers of babà cut in half and soaked in sweetened espresso, mascarpone cream and coffee cremoso. Finish the surface with spikes of mascarpone cream. Decorate with a dusting of unsweetened cocoa.