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The Bakery 100 · make it at home

Baba au rhum

3 hr, 40 min hands-on · 10 babas

A light yeasted cake soaked through with warm rum syrup and served with whipped cream; Paris has made it since the 1700s.

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The real one

You need

• Dough: 250 g bread flour (2 cups)
• 6 g instant yeast (2 tsp)
• 20 g sugar (1 1/2 tbsp)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 60 ml whole milk, warm (1/4 cup)
• 80 g soft unsalted butter (5 1/2 tbsp)
• Syrup: 500 ml water (2 cups)
• 250 g sugar (1 1/4 cups)
• Peel of 1 orange and 1 lemon
• 1 vanilla bean, split
• 100 ml dark rum (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp), plus more to drizzle
• Glaze: 3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
• Whipped cream (Chantilly), to serve

How to make it

1. Dough (15 min plus 45 min): Beat the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, eggs and milk in a mixer 8 minutes into a very soft, elastic batter-dough. Beat in the butter until glossy. Cover and rise 45 minutes.
2. Fill moulds (10 min): Butter 10 baba moulds or a muffin tin. Pipe or spoon the dough in, filling halfway.
3. Proof (45 min): Proof until the dough reaches the rims.
4. Bake (20 min): Bake at 180C (350F) 18 to 20 minutes until deep golden. Unmould and leave to dry on a rack (overnight is ideal; dry babas soak better).
5. Syrup (10 min): Simmer water, sugar, peels and vanilla 5 minutes, take off the heat and add the rum. Keep it warm (about 60C).
6. Soak (15 min): Drop the babas into the warm syrup, a few at a time, and turn them for a minute or two, until heavy and soaked through. Drain on a rack over a tray.
7. Finish: Brush with warm apricot jam. Serve with whipped cream and an extra splash of rum at the table.

Tips

• Dry babas drink more syrup; bake them a day ahead.
• Warm syrup, not boiling: boiling makes them fall apart.

Chef Amazing's own home version of baba au rhum, in our words; not any bakery's recipe.