Baba au Rhum
Published April 7, 2021
- Total Time
- 2½ hours, plus 2 hours’ soaking
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4large eggs, beaten
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- ½cup/113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), softened, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2cups/256 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- ½cup/80 grams golden raisins, soaked in hot water and drained
- ½cup honey
- ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar
- 1(2-inch) cinnamon stick
- 3whole cloves
- 3green cardamom pods
- Zest of 1 large orange, removed in strips with a vegetable peeler
- ½teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½cup/120 milliliters dark rum, brandy or whiskey, plus more for serving
- 1cup/240 milliliters heavy cream
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
For the Babas
For the Rum Syrup
For the Whipped Cream
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
401 calories; 17 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 54 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 36 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 46 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the dough: Put yeast and sugar in a medium bowl and stir in ¼ cup lukewarm water. Leave for 10 minutes, until mixture is bubbly. Add eggs and salt to the yeast mixture, and whisk together.
- Step 2
In a medium mixing bowl, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the egg-yeast mixture and drained raisins, and beat with a wooden spoon, mixing well to make a soft, sticky dough. (Alternatively, prepare the dough in a stand mixer.) Cover bowl and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Step 3
Butter 2 mini-muffin tins or 12 mini ramekins. Uncover dough, dust lightly with flour and turn out onto a clean work surface. Add flour as necessary to make dough manageable and knead lightly to make a large, slightly sticky ball. Cut the dough into 12 pieces of equal size (about 2 ounces/55 grams). Dust each with flour, roll each into a ball and place in muffin tins or ramekins. Cover loosely and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
- Step 4
Meanwhile, make the syrup: Put honey, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and orange zest in a medium saucepan. Add 1½ cups/360 milliliters water and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve. Lower heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla and rum, turn off heat and let syrup cool to room temperature.
- Step 5
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake babas until lightly browned on top, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn babas out of their molds and onto a baking sheet, and return to the oven for 5 minutes to brown all over, as necessary. Remove and cover babas with a clean towel to keep them soft. (Store, cooled, in an airtight container at room temperature if making in advance.)
- Step 6
About 2 hours before serving, place babas, top-side down, in a deep baking dish. Pour syrup over and let soak. Turn babas over a few times in syrup — they should get quite soggy.
- Step 7
Prepare the whipped cream: With a whisk, hand-held beaters or in a stand mixer, whip cream to very soft peaks. Add sugar and whip lightly, leaving mixture soft.
- Step 8
To serve, place one or two babas in a low soup plate. Spoon over a little more syrup, and splash on about a tablespoon of rum. Serve a big spoonful of whipped cream on the side. If desired, garnish with a strip of orange zest, plucked from the syrup.
Private Notes
Comments
C'est magnifique! I used Ron Zacapa 23-year old Guatemalan dark rum and these were amazing. There are four of us, and rich as these are we had no trouble eating 3 apiece. I somehow had a small amount of the syrup left, but that was wonderful drizzled over the last slice of cheesecake I had the next day.
These are delicious! I found the 55 gram size filled a regular muffin tin perfectly, but I wish I had cut the size in half and been able to use my mini muffin tins. I have 12 muffin sized babas rather than 24 mini-muffin sized ones which would be nicer to serve.
I have substituted cooked down organic non alcoholic cider for rum and bourbon in some desserts. It tastes good, just not the same.
@Hammy If you mix the alcohol over heat, it will burn off that part, the longer, the less boozy. If you don't want to buy alcohol, you can make a syrup with any flavour and spices
Dreaming of a GF version!!
It definitely needed a lot more than 2 cups of flour. I added in parts roughly another 1/2 - 1 cup after rising until the dough became manageable enough to easily divide into the 12 parts.