Baba Au Rhum Cakes Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, yeast and salt. In a small saucepan, heat the butter, milk and water to 120°-130°. Gradually add to dry ingredients; beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add eggs, egg yolk and 3/4 cup flour; beat on high for 2 minutes., Stir in the fruit and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours., Stir dough down. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight., Punch dough down; turn onto a lightly floured surface. Shape dough into 24 balls and place in well-greased muffin cups. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Meanwhile, bring water and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture is syrupy, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Stir in rum., Bake cakes at 375° for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown. Poke holes in cakes with a fork; slowly pour 1 tablespoon rum syrup over each cake. Top each with a cherry half. Let stand for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Serve warm.

Steps:

• Combine the currants and rum in a small bowl and set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and brush a 5-cup (6 1/2 by 3 1/2-inch) tube pan or kugelhopf mold with the melted butter. Be sure to coat every crevice of the pan. Heat the milk to 115 degrees F and then pour it into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir in the yeast and sugar and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
• With the mixer on low speed, first add the eggs, then the flour, salt, and remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater to form the dough into a ball. It will be very soft. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and allow it to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Drain the currants, fold them into the dough with a spatula, and spoon into the prepared pan. Smooth the top, cover the pan with a damp towel, and allow to rise until the dough reaches the top of the pan, 50 minutes to 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and make the Rum Syrup.
• Bake the cake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then tap it out of the cake pan onto a baking rack set over a sheet pan. Pour all of the Rum Syrup very slowly onto the warm cake, allowing it all to soak in thoroughly. Amazingly, the liquid will be absorbed into the cake, so be sure to use all of the syrup.
• Heat the preserves with 1 tablespoon of water until runny, press it through a sieve, and brush it on the cake. Serve with Whipped Cream piped into the middle of the cake plus an extra bowl on the side.
• Place the sugar and 1 1/2 cups water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until the sugar dissolves. Pour into a 4-cup heat-proof measuring cup and allow to cool. Add the rum and vanilla and set aside.
• Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar and vanilla and continue to whip until the cream forms stiff peaks. Don't overbeat, or you'll end up with butter!

Steps:

• Pour 1/2 cup warm water into the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in sugar and sprinkle in yeast. Let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.
• With mixer on low, beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in flour and salt. Add butter, a few cubes at a time, and beat until batter is smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Grease a 10- or 12-cup bundt pan with softened butter. Spoon half the batter into bottom of pan. Sprinkle chocolate over top of batter, making sure the chocolate doesn't touch the sides of the pan. Spoon remaining batter over chocolate. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove plastic wrap and transfer pan to oven. Bake until deep golden and firm to the touch, 30 to 40 minutes. Let baba cool in the pan, set on a wire rack, for 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack while it is still warm and let cool completely.
• In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, 1 1/2 cups water, ginger, orange peel, cloves and cinnamon. Bring to a boil over medium heat; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Strain into a bowl; discard solids. Stir 1/2 cup rum into liquid.
• Place wire rack with cake over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour rum syrup slowly over surface of cake, allowing excess to drip into baking sheet below. Pour extra syrup from pan into a bowl and then pour it back on top of cake. Repeat several times until most of the syrup has soaked into the cake. (Reserve extra syrup for serving; you should have a least 1/3 cup left over.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip heavy cream to soft peaks. Beat in crème fraîche. Beat in confectioner's sugar, to taste, and vanilla.
• Place cake on large platter. Place remaining 1/4 cup rum in a small skillet over high heat. Tilt skillet slightly so that rum catches fire. (If you don't have a gas range, use a long-handled match or lighter to set rum on fire.) Pour flaming rum over cake and let it burn off. Spoon whipped cream into the hollow center of the cake, then slice; or slice and then dollop with whipped cream. Serve cake with reserved rum syrup.

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: Put yeast and sugar in a medium bowl and stir in ¼ cup lukewarm water. Leave for 10 minutes, until mixture is bubbly. Add eggs and salt to the yeast mixture, and whisk together.
• In a medium mixing bowl, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the egg-yeast mixture and drained raisins, and beat with a wooden spoon, mixing well to make a soft, sticky dough. (Alternatively, prepare the dough in a stand mixer.) Cover bowl and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Butter 2 mini-muffin tins or 12 mini ramekins. Uncover dough, dust lightly with flour and turn out onto a clean work surface. Add flour as necessary to make dough manageable and knead lightly to make a large, slightly sticky ball. Cut the dough into 12 pieces of equal size (about 2 ounces/55 grams). Dust each with flour, roll each into a ball and place in muffin tins or ramekins. Cover loosely and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the syrup: Put honey, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and orange zest in a medium saucepan. Add 1 1/2 cups/360 milliliters water and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve. Lower heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla and rum, turn off heat and let syrup cool to room temperature.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake babas until lightly browned on top, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn babas out of their molds and onto a baking sheet, and return to the oven for 5 minutes to brown all over, as necessary. Remove and cover babas with a clean towel to keep them soft. (Store, cooled, in an airtight container at room temperature if making in advance.)
• About 2 hours before serving, place babas, top-side down, in a deep baking dish. Pour syrup over and let soak. Turn babas over a few times in syrup - they should get quite soggy.
• Prepare the whipped cream: With a whisk, hand-held beaters or in a stand mixer, whip cream to very soft peaks. Add sugar and whip lightly, leaving mixture soft.
• To serve, place one or two babas in a low soup plate. Spoon over a little more syrup, and splash on about a tablespoon of rum. Serve a big spoonful of whipped cream on the side. If desired, garnish with a strip of orange zest, plucked from the syrup.

Steps:

• Place milk and yeast in a small bowl; stir to dissolve.
• Place flour, salt, and eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with dough hook attachment; add yeast mixture and mix on low speed to combine and knead, about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula; knead on medium speed until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar. Add a few small pieces of butter mixture to dough; with the mixer on low, add remaining butter mixture, a little bit at a time. When all the butter mixture has been added, increase speed and continue mixing until smooth, shiny, comes away from the sides of the bowl, and is elastic, 6 to 10 minutes.
• Butter a large bowl, transfer dough to prepared bowl, and cover with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
• Lift dough from bowl and drop back into bowl to deflate; repeat process once or twice. Cover bowl and transfer to refrigerator to chill for at least 8 hours and up to overnight.
• Butter 20 5-ounce baba molds and place on a baking sheet. Divide dough into 20 equal pieces; pinch each piece of dough to form balls. Place each ball of dough into prepared molds.
• In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and milk. Brush dough with egg yolk mixture, reserving remaining. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray; cover dough, cooking spray-side down, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees in a convection oven (425 degrees in a conventional oven).
• Working from the outside inward, brush each baba very lightly with reserved egg yolk mixture. Transfer molds to oven and bake until baba just begins to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 degrees (if using a convection oven; 400 if using a conventional oven) and continue baking until deep golden-brown and internal temperature reaches 205 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 5 to 10 minutes more.
• Remove from oven and let cool in mold for 5 minutes. Unmold onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Poke bases of babas all over with a toothpick. Working in batches, gently drop babas into hot rum syrup, submerging completely; let soak until there are no more bubbles. Place on a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining baba; serve drizzled with additional rum syrup, whipped cream, and cherries, if desired.