Rhumbaba Polish Rum Cakes |
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes |
Ready In: 20 Minutes Servings: 8 |
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Polish King Stanislas Leszczynski, who was exiled in Lorraine, France (where quiche Lorraine was invented!), brought the baba to Paris. He found the customary kouglhopf German cake (see post) too dry and dipped the bread in rum. Read more . He was so delighted that he named the cake after one of the heroes of his favorite book, Ali Baba. Later, his chef refined the sweet bread by using brioche dough and adding raisins to the recipe. Ingredients:
for the raisins |
1/2 cup raisins |
1 cup dark rum |
for the dough |
1/4 cup butter, softened (plus 2 tbsp melted to coat the moulds) |
1 tbsp active dried yeast, mixed with 1 tbsp warm water |
1 cup and 2 tbsp flour |
1 tbsp sugar |
pinch of salt |
2 whole eggs |
for the syrup |
3 cups water |
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar |
1 lemon zest |
1 tbsp orange zest |
1 tbsp vanilla extract |
garnish |
whipped cream |
fresh fruit |
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Raisins:
3. Add raisins to rum and allow them to plump while you prepare the dough.
4. Dough:
5. Make a well in the flour.
6. Add the sugar, pinch of salt, one of the eggs and the yeast mixture. Mix well with wooden spoon until the ingredients are well combined. Add the other egg and mix it in.
7. Add the softened butter and work the dough until it is elastic.
8. Add in the drained raisins, making sure to reserve the rum.
9. Brush the insides of 8 small, high savarin molds.
10. Use a piping bag and divide the dough equally among them (using a piping bag will simplify things, as the dough can be quite sticky).
11. Leave the filled savarin mold in a warm place until the dough has risen to fill the molds.
12. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
13. When finished baking turn out the babas and allow to cool completely on a rack.
14. Syrup:
15. In a medium saucepan, combine all of the syrup ingredients.
16. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar.
17. Remove from the heat and let stand for 30 minutes.
18. Add the rum that was use to soak the raisins.
19. Strain and discard the solids.
20. Cover to keep warm for soaking the baba.
21. To finish the babas:
22. Dip the babas into the syrup and leave them submerged until no more air bubbles are released.
23. Drain and place on a wire rack resting over a dish.
24. When they have cooled slightly, place them on a dish with the remaining rum.
25. As the rum syrup drais in the dish, spoon it back over the babas.
26. To serve:
27. Serve topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit.
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