French baba au rhum — the classic dessert soaked in rum syrup

Baba au rhum, the famous dessert of French patisserie originating in the 18th century, is a soft yeast cake generously soaked in aromatic rum syrup. It is served cold with whipped cream and fresh fruit, and is irresistible on any festive table. The main photo of this recipe comes from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 license).

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 250 g flour
• 4 eggs
• 60 g melted butter
• 50 g sugar
• 7 g dry yeast (or 20 g fresh yeast)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 100 ml lukewarm milk

For the rum syrup:

• 250 ml water
• 150 g sugar
• 100 ml dark rum
• 1 piece of orange peel (optional)

For serving:

• 200 ml cream for whipping
• fresh fruit (peaches, grapes, kiwi, etc.)

Preparation steps

1. Activate the yeast: mix the lukewarm milk with a spoonful of sugar and the yeast; leave for 10 minutes until frothy.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, the remaining sugar and the salt. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing constantly, then the milk with the yeast and the melted butter. Mix until a soft, elastic dough forms.
3. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 45–60 minutes, until it doubles in volume.
4. Heat the oven to 180°C. Butter a savarin (ring) mold or small baba molds, put the dough inside and leave it to rest for another 20 minutes.
5. Bake for 20–25 minutes until the surface turns golden. Take it out of the oven, let it cool slightly and turn it onto a rack.
6. Prepare the syrup: boil the water with the sugar and the orange peel for 5 minutes; remove from the heat, take out the peel and add the rum.
7. While the cake is still warm, spoon the warm syrup over it, a little at a time, several times in a row, until the dough absorbs as much syrup as possible.
8. Leave it in the refrigerator for at least a few hours, ideally a full night. Serve cold with whipped cream and fresh fruit on top or on the side.

Time and servings

Preparation: about 25 minutes (plus rising ~1 hour 20 minutes) | Baking: 20–25 minutes | Total: about 2 hours | Servings: 8