The baba au rhum is a yeasted cake saturated in rum syrup, attributed to the Polish king Stanislas Leszczynski in the eighteenth century and refined in Paris by his patissier Nicolas Stohrer, who founded the Stohrer patisserie on the rue Montorgueil in 1730 — still the oldest patisserie in Paris.
A baba is a tall, domed sponge the color of dark amber from the rum syrup, damp and heavy with syrup. The flavor is dominated by the rum — sweet, alcoholic, and aromatic — with the whipped cream tempering the soak.
The baba rests on a yeasted sponge and a saturating syrup soak. The enriched dough rises through yeast fermentation, producing an airy crumb with open structure. After baking, the cake is soaked repeatedly in a sugar-and-rum syrup; the open crumb absorbs the syrup by capillary action.
Variations
The savarin is a ring-shaped cousin; the baba classically includes raisins and is served with whipped cream.
On the Palate
Where Baba Au Rhum sits in the French flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8
How it's made
6 steps · 40 min
- 140 min
Make an enriched yeasted dough with flour, eggs, butter, and yeast; let rise until doubled.
Watch outLet the enriched dough rise until doubled — a full proof gives the open, airy crumb that later drinks up all the syrup.
- 215 min
Punch down, add soaked raisins, and pipe into baba molds.
- 325 min
Proof until puffed, then bake until golden.
- 410 min
Prepare a rum syrup: dissolve sugar in water, add a generous quantity of dark rum.
- 515 min
While both cake and syrup are warm, soak the babas repeatedly until fully saturated.
Watch outSoak while both cake and syrup are warm, repeatedly, until fully saturated — a cold, dense baba just repels the syrup and stays dry.
- 65 min
Serve with a generous spoonful of whipped cream.
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