Christian Ryan’s fennel, honey and ouzo baba with peaches and cream

Ingredients

• 400 ml thickened cream
• 3 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• Honey, to serve
• 1 frozen peach, for grating (see note)
• Baba
• 200 gm plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 70 gm softened unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes, plus extra melted for greasing
• 7 gm sachet dried yeast
• 10 gm (2 tsp) honey
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon, plus 80ml (1/3 cup) citrus juice
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• Ouzo syrup
• 230 gm honey (such as fennel honey)
• 70 gm caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped (including pod)
• 230 ml good-quality ouzo

Instructions

1. 1

   1: For babas, grease and flour eight 80ml baba or savarin moulds. Combine flour, butter, yeast, honey, citrus zests and juice and a large pinch of salt in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. On low speed, gradually add eggs to flour mixture, beating continuously, until a smooth and silky batter forms (4-5 minutes). Transfer batter into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle; divide equally among prepared moulds. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place until double in size (40-45 minutes). Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced. Place moulds on a large baking tray and bake until golden and cooked through (15-20 minutes). Remove from oven and allow to cool in moulds before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

2. 2

   2: Meanwhile, for ouzo syrup, combine all ingredients except ouzo and 160ml (⅔ cup) water in a saucepan over high heat; bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until slightly reduced (5 minutes). Stir in ouzo; remove from the heat and allow flavours to infuse (15 minutes). Strain into a clean saucepan (discard solids) and keep warm.

3. 3

   3: Unmould babas, place in a large shallow tray and pour warm (not hot) syrup over (if syrup is too hot the babas will break down). Soak, spooning syrup over the top occasionally, until babas are completely soaked through.

4. 4

   4: Meanwhile, whisk cream, sugar, vanilla bean paste and lemon zest in an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

5. 5

   5: Divide babas among shallow serving bowls, dollop with vanilla cream and drizzle with a little honey. Using a microplane, finely grate over frozen peach to serve.