French · Dessert
Baba au Rhum
An open-crumbed, deliberately dry baba dough built to drink three times its weight in syrup without collapsing
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
- T45 gruau flour — 250 g (100%)
- Whole eggs — 200 g (80%)
- Whole milk, warm — 50 g (20%)
- Sugar — 25 g (10%)
- Salt — 5 g (2%)
- Fresh yeast — 15 g (6%)
- Melted butter, cooled — 75 g (30%)
- Soaking syrup: 1 L water, 450 g sugar, zest of 1 orange, 1 vanilla pod, 80 g dark rum
Method
- Dissolve yeast in warm milk; paddle flour, eggs, sugar, salt and milk 6 min to a smooth elastic batter.
- Add melted butter, beat until glossy and slapping the bowl.
- Pipe into buttered dariole moulds to 1/3 height; proof 40 min at 27 °C to the rim.
- Bake at 175 °C fan 18–20 min until deep gold; unmould and dry overnight uncovered.
- Soak babas in 60 °C syrup 8–10 min, turning; drain on a rack; lacquer with nappage.