Rum Baba, the dessert par excellence: majestic, spongy, soft, very light! To compliment someone around here, we say “si nu’ babbà!” With this recipe, we can all make it!

For the dough, selecting the right ingredients and the correct preparation are fundamental to achieving a soft baba with an enveloping aroma.

The baba dough is made of strong flour that retains air. Eggs, butter, brewer’s yeast, and sugar.

To knead, I recommend using a stand mixer. After baking, it is soaked in rum syrup, which gives it a unique and unmistakable flavor.

You can make it in a classic high ring mold or a marguerite shape for baba, or if you prefer, you can use a savarin mold.

If you want to make single servings, use the aluminum molds.

A small but important tip: proper baking is essential to ensure a rum baba with perfect golden brown hues that develop that enveloping aroma that precedes the pleasure of every bite.

“Bake the baba always the day before because the drier it is, the better it will absorb the syrup.”

For decoration, you can choose between whipped cream or pastry cream with fresh fruit, or candied cherries are also great.

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Economical
Rest time: 2 Hours
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 12/14
Cooking methods: Stovetop, Electric Oven
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: All Seasons

Ingredients for Rum Baba

2 3/4 cups Manitoba flour
6 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
7 g dry brewer's yeast (double if fresh)
1/2 cup butter
1 pinch salt
2 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup rum
1 orange (orange zest)
1 cup whipping cream
as needed fresh fruit (or candied cherries)

Tools

Stand Mixer
Mold
Food Scales
Pot
Piping Bag

Steps for Rum Baba

The baba dough requires long processing, so I recommend using a sturdy mixer or a very strong electric beater with spiral hooks.
In this recipe, it is crucial to use Manitoba flour as it absorbs a lot of liquids and develops a lot of gluten.
Butter should be softened at room temperature.
The eggs should be 6 large and at room temperature.
Now let’s start kneading.
Weigh the whole eggs without shells, then beat them slightly with a fork.
(300 g of eggs corresponds to about 6 eggs).
Put the Manitoba flour, sugar, and dry brewer’s yeast in the mixer bowl, then stir to combine the dry ingredients.
Add a pinch of salt.
Attach the dough hook and start mixing the ingredients, pouring the beaten eggs little by little.
Do this slowly to hydrate the flour gradually.
Add the eggs and mix the dough for 15/20 minutes.
It should be elastic and well-incorporated at the end.
Now slowly add the softened butter to the dough. Only when the first piece is integrated should you add another until all the butter is used.
This phase should last at least 10 minutes.
Once the dough is ready, grease your hands with a bit of butter and remove it from the mixer’s hook.
The dough will be extremely soft but elastic and easy to work by hand.
Place it in a well-buttered 9.5-10 inch ring mold.
Although it will seem little, after rising, it will triple in volume, reaching the edge of the mold!
To make it easier, place it in the turned-off oven with the light on.
After rising, we can bake it in a convection oven at 356°F for about 30 minutes or in a static oven at 374°F for the same time.
(Absolutely avoid opening the oven for the first 25/28 minutes).
Remove from the oven and let it cool.
Meanwhile, prepare the syrup by boiling water and sugar with a peel of a well-washed untreated orange for about 20 minutes.
When the syrup is ready, turn off the heat and add the rum.
Take the baba out of the oven and let it cool in the mold.
Then poke the entire surface with a skewer.
Soak the baba with the rum syrup, adding it little by little to absorb well.
Gradually, the baba will absorb all the syrup and will increase in volume.
Meanwhile, whip the fresh cream.
Once the syrup is finished, invert the baba cake onto a serving plate and then decorate it with dollops of whipped cream and candied cherries or fresh fruit.
Enjoy your meal.

Tips

The Baba Cake keeps in the fridge for 3 days. It can also be frozen, sliced, with parchment paper between the slices.

If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use electric spiral beaters. In the last steps, you’ll need to knead by hand.

You can also soak it later, when cold. It lasts a few days, covered with plastic wrap. It tends to dry out, but once soaked, it becomes soft and perfect!

If you use fresh brewer’s yeast, you will need 14 grams.

You can also create the Baba Cake with Limoncello, simply by replacing the rum with limoncello.

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