Babà al Rum
Campania · dolce · serves 10 · 240 min total · hard
Brought to Naples by French chefs of the Bourbon court. Now more Neapolitan than French — sold in tin moulds outside every pastry shop in the city.
Ingredients
- 300 g strong '00' flour
- 4 eggs eggs
- 100 g butter, softened
- 20 g sugar
- 12 g fresh yeast
- 1 pinch salt
- 300 ml dark Caribbean rum
- 300 g sugar for syrup
- 700 ml water for syrup
- 1 lemon lemon zest
Method
- Dough: dissolve yeast in 2 tbsp warm water. Combine flour, eggs, yeast, sugar, salt. Mix in stand mixer with dough hook for 10 minutes — sticky but stretchy.
- Add softened butter a piece at a time. Continue mixing 8 minutes — the dough should pull from the bowl.
- Pipe or spoon into greased small dariole moulds, filling 1/3. Proof 90 minutes until tripled, peeking just over the rim.
- Bake at 200°C (390°F) for 18–22 minutes until deep mahogany.
- Cool. Tip out the babà.
- Syrup: boil water with sugar and zest 5 minutes. Cool slightly, add rum off heat.
- Soak each babà in warm syrup for 2 minutes — they should drink it greedily, swelling, glossy.
- Serve drenched, with a final splash of rum poured at the table.