Preparation

• Let’s start by preparing the syrup. Take an untreated orange and an untreated lemon, grate them and obtain the orange and lemon zests. Put a narrow pot with high sides on the stove and pour in the water together with the sugar and the orange and lemon zests. Bring to a boil; you will see that the sugar will have dissolved in the meantime. Turn off the heat, add the limoncello, cover the pot with a lid and let it rest.

• Now let’s prepare the babà. Start by making the starter (lievitino). First dissolve the fresh brewer’s yeast in the warm water with a pinch of the sugar from the recipe. In a bowl put the dissolved yeast and 30 g of flour (taken from the total amount) and knead the ingredients until you obtain a soft but firm dough. Form a small ball and let the starter rest in a small bowl covered with plastic wrap until it has doubled in volume (at least 30 minutes).
  
  At this point pour the remaining flour, which should be cold from the fridge (first trick), into the bowl of the mixer (if you don’t have one you can knead by hand) and add the starter prepared earlier.

• In another bowl put the whole eggs, cold from the fridge (second trick), and beat them with a fork to mix yolks and whites. When well mixed, add them to the flour little by little while the mixer continues to knead.
  
  Once the eggs are fully incorporated, add the remaining sugar and the salt and continue kneading for at least 15–20 minutes. The dough will be ready when it easily pulls away from the sides of the mixer bowl and becomes elastic.
  
  Continuing to knead, add the softened butter piece by piece, making sure the dough has fully absorbed each addition before adding more.
  
  You’ll see the dough become much softer and more elastic (this will take another 15 minutes of work). At this point the dough is ready: form it into a ball and let it rest covered with plastic wrap until it doubles in volume (approximately 2–3 hours).

• Meanwhile prepare the proper babà molds (they’re sold almost everywhere now; I recommend disposable ones). I used molds approximately 2 3/8 inches high with a diameter of about 1 5/8–2 inches. When the dough has risen, take it and deflate it slightly, then pinch off small pieces with your hands and form many balls weighing about 60–70 grams each; place them into the prepared molds.
  
  Once all the babà are prepared, let them rise one last time until they are nicely puffed and reach the rim of the mold. Now they’re ready to bake.
  
  Bake in a preheated convection oven at 352°F for about 25 minutes, positioning them in the lower part of the oven (another trick); they should not be too browned. Once baked, remove them and let them cool slightly, then take them out of the molds and let them cool on a rack.

• While they are cooling, heat the syrup to about 104°F and immerse the babà, turning them gently with a ladle—be careful as they can break.
  
  When well soaked, remove them from the syrup with a slotted spoon and place them on a rack again so that some excess liquid drains off.
  
  Here are your babà! Serve them plain or accompanied by whipped cream or pastry cream.