Ingredients
FOR THE DOUGH
2 1/2 cups flour
2 packets of fast-rising dry yeast (5 teaspoons)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup raisins
FOR THE SYRUP
4 cups water
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup rum
2 teaspoons lemon juice
** Visit www.french-delights.com. or www.cookeryclub.co.uk/recipes for exact measurements.
Directions
To make the dough:
1. Activate yeast, following packet directions.
2. Mix butter, milk, salt and 1 egg together.
3. Add 1 cup of flour and mix well.
4. Add the remaining eggs and flour, working the ingredients into a fine dough.
5. Add raisins and keep kneading until the dough is malleable (Add a touch more flour if it's too soft, a touch more milk if it's too hard).
6. Oil a tube pan [the same pan in which it will later be cooked in] and place the dough in it.
7. Cover the tube pan with a towel or blanket. Let the dough rest in a warm room (Ideal temperature is 80 F degrees) for about an hour and a half. The dough should increase in volume.
To bake the cake:
8. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
9. Bake for about 45 to 55 minutes.
To make the syrup:
10. While the cake is baking, make the syrup. Bring the water to boil. Add sugar and simmer for 5 minutes.
11. Remove the water and sugar mixture off the burner. Add rum and lemon juice. Divide the syrup in half.
To flavor the cake.
12. When the cake is done, remove from the oven.
13. Place the cake (still in its tube pan) on a large plate.
13. Using a toothpick or a very thin rod make tiny holes in the top of the cake.
14. Pour half of the hot syrup on the cake (while it is still in the tube pan) and allow the syrup to soak through (Some of the syrup will leak out of the tube pan).
15. Let the cake cool for about an hour. Remove from the tube pan.
16. Slice the cake. Either garnish each slice of cake with a touch of the reserved syrup, or place the syrup in a decorative container and offer it to guests so they choose to add it or not on their slices.
Notes
Surprisingly, this is a relatively easy cake to do. The cake is not as tasty as store-bought "baba au rum pastries" but it is a nice alternative. And it's much cheaper! There are quite a few recipes on the world-wide web for this cake and they're all quite similar. Some cooks use raisins, others currants, while some don't use any dried fruit at all. Some cooks use 3 eggs, some 4. Most cooks prefer dark rum (I didn't have any on hand so I used regular rum). Generally speaking, the amount of sugar is kept at a minimum. The sweetness is supposed to come from the syrup. All the recipes I have studied indicate that one is supposed to make small holes in the cake and allow the syrup to seep through. However, even though I followed these directions, my syrup didn't quite get into the cake as it should have had. If I had made bigger holes, the appearance of the cake would have been compromised. So, I decided to garnish the slices with extra syrup. This might appeal to some, and might not appeal to others.... For historical notes on the "baba au rum" see "Pastries...." Photo: Mary Melfi. |
