Baba au Rhum (French Rum-Soaked Yeast Cake)
Quick answer
Baba au rhum originates from 18th-century Poland, where King Stanislaw Leszczynski is said to have soaked a dry kugelhopf cake in rum, naming it after Ali Baba from One T...
What makes this special
- Dark rum syrup soaks a light yeast cake through until every layer of Baba au Rhum carries sweet weight.
- Open-crumbed yeast cake absorbs dark rum syrup and nearly doubles in volume
- Fully soaked interior releases warm rum aroma in every bite
Key ingredients
Core cooking flow
- 1 Mix 200g bread flour, 5g yeast, 3 eggs, and a pinch of salt, then knead for about 15 minutes until smooth.
- 2 Add 80g softened butter in several additions, kneading until each portion disappears before adding more.
- 3 Proof the filled molds at room temperature for about 1 hour, until the dough is roughly doubled.
Baba au rhum originates from 18th-century Poland, where King Stanislaw Leszczynski is said to have soaked a dry kugelhopf cake in rum, naming it after Ali Baba from One Thousand and One Nights. The dessert traveled from Poland to Naples and then to Paris, where French patissiers reshaped it into the small, cylindrical, individual-portion yeast cakes recognized today. The dough is heavily enriched with butter and eggs, which produces a tender, porous crumb riddled with open air pockets. After baking, the cakes are submerged in a hot syrup of sugar, water, and dark rum in substantial proportion until those air pockets drink up the liquid and the cakes swell to close to double their baked size. The syrup must penetrate all the way to the center - soaking time cannot be rushed - and the finished texture is dense, spongy, and completely saturated, releasing a burst of warm rum with each bite as the crumb is compressed. A rosette of creme chantilly sits on top, made from lightly sweetened whipped cream with a vanilla note, and its cold, airy quality sits in direct contrast to the dense, alcohol-soaked base beneath. The rum is not a background flavor here but the primary one, which makes baba au rhum an unambiguously adult dessert.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Season
Mix 200g bread flour, 5g yeast, 3 eggs, and a pinch of salt, then knead for about 15 minutes until smooth.
The dough will be soft, so avoid adding much extra flour or it can turn dry.
- 2Step
Add 80g softened butter in several additions, kneading until each portion disappears before adding more.
Continue until the dough looks glossy and elastic, then fill each mold only halfway to leave space for rising.
- 3Heat
Proof the filled molds at room temperature for about 1 hour, until the dough is roughly doubled.
When it begins to rise toward the rim, bake before it overproofs and loses strength.
- 4Heat
Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake for about 20 minutes.
Remove the cakes when the tops are golden brown and the dough has risen about 3 to 4cm above the mold rim.
- 5Control
In a saucepan, heat water and 150g sugar over medium heat, stirring until the sugar fully dissolves.
Turn off the heat, cool the syrup to about 60°C, then mix in 100ml dark rum so the alcohol does not flash off.
- 6Finish
Unmold the cakes while still warm and submerge them fully in the rum syrup for 20 to 30 minutes.
Press gently so the syrup reaches the center, then serve when the cut surface glistens and syrup releases when pressed.
After the steps
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