Name: Rum Baba
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: Makes 10 Babas
Ingredients: 1 vanilla pod (seeds removed set aside); 1 cup + 4 tsp or 4 ⅔ oz (130 g) all-purpose flour; 2 tbsp (25 g) superfine sugar; ½ cup (125 ml) baba syrup; 3 large eggs; 4 cups (1 L) water; 1 lb (450 g) sugar; Seeds of 1 vanilla pod; 6 tbsp (75 g) superfine sugar; 6 ½ tbsp (100 ml) grape seed oil; 1 tsp (4 g) pectin NH; 3 tbsp (45 g) unsalted butter; Zest of 1 lemon; 1 ½ tsp (6 g) honey; ¼ tsp (1 g) salt; ½ cup (125 ml) apricot pulp; 1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream; Zest of 1 orange; ½ oz (6 g) fresh baker’s yeast

Preparation info

Makes
10
Babas

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
1 hr 20

Appears in

My Best: Alain Ducasse

By Alain Ducasse

Published 2014

About

Cooking is about tradition, and this recipe is one of its symbols. For a gastronome, simply hearing the words “rum baba” makes the mouth water and conjures up an image of something delicious, moist and fragrant, syrupy and soft… in other words, a moment of perfect pleasure. To see a baba wearing its shiny apricot glaze, waiting to receive the anointing of aged rum, and ultimately to be accompanied by a vanilla cream is to witness a small masterwork of good taste. It is my favorite dessert,