Rum Baba

 I really like the raspberries together with the rum syrup and cream. They compliment each other so well!

This rum cake has the texture in between muffin and bread. Soak the crumb with the syrup is all about it. It turns so soft and sweet. LOOOVE the double cream......















This is a cake that never really in my list till about one month ago Nutpi from Betsy asked me about cake recipe with rum as she bought herself a dark rum.... So I promised her I would look for a recipe that she described in her mail. I hope I didn't take too long to search for this. And wish this is what she misses and looking for. And I am so lucky to have the recipe book from Auntie M. which comes with many old classic cake recipes and this is one of them. It is thought that King Leszcynki of Poland invented the earlier version of this recipe in 1609 when he sprinkled some rum on a Kugelbupf, a rather dry yeast cake from Alsace. Apparently he named it Ali Baba after his favourite literary character.

 But when I first looked at the recipe, I wasn't too sure about it. I will tell you why. So I went ahead following the original recipe on the book, since I have no idea how this cake works and taste. Well it called for 15g of yeast!!! I did ask myself how possible it is to have a cake that is so heavily yeast? Ended up my oven and kitchen were STINK after the cakes were baked. I know I should have followed my instinct to cut down the amount of yeast.... At the end the whole batch of Babas went to feed my bin! So I was thinking should I try again? After a week, which is today, I made the Babas again and this time I told myself I should reduces the yeast to 5g. And I guess there was a printing error on the recipe book... The cakes turned out well!! It raised up beautifully without any strong yeasty smell that stink my oven and kitchen.  :) I was pretty tempted to use just 1.5g but..... However, I still think the yeast taste is till pretty obvious, I will bring down the yeast further if I were to make this again. The rum syrup merry very well with the Babas, as the babas has got not much taste itself. And of course the company of berries and double cream really make this babas more enjoyable that is for sure.


Ingredients:

Yeast   4g (may be less)
Plain flour    1/4 cup
Warm Milk   1/4 cup

Plain flour ,extra  3/4 cup
Sugar   2tbp
Large Eggs  2
Unsalted butter, melted   60g

Rum syrup:
 Sugar 1 1/2 cup
 Water  1 cup
 Dark Rum 2 tbsp

* Sugar and water  stir over heat, till sugar dissolved. Let boil for 2 minutes and add in rum and off the heat.

Method:

1. Greased 6 moulds (1/2 cup capacity).

2. Cream yeast, plain flout and milk in a bowl and cover to let it stand in warm place for 10 minutes., or till mixture is frothy.

3. Sift extra flour and sugar into large bowl, stir in the yeast batter, eggs and butter, beat for 3 minutes with wooden spoon until batter is smooth. Place batter in warm place and stand for 40 minutes or double in size.

4. Beat batter again: divide batter into prepared moulds , stand, uncovered, until batter rises 3/4 of the way up side of the moulds. Place moulds in moderate ( I used 170'c) for 15 minutes.

5. Turn babas onto wire rack over tray, pour hot syrup over hot babas. Place babas on a serving plate, [our syrup from tray over babas until all syrup has been absorbed.