Enjoy this recipe for a sweet treat popular in Southern Italy.
Ivan Romano-UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Neapolitan babà rum cakes
Quantity: 25
Ingredients:
9 eggs (cold)
3 ¼ cups (417 g) Bread flour
1 teaspoon Orange zest
Vanilla extract (a little bit)
1 ¾ teaspoons (10 g) Fine salt
¼ cup (42 g) Sugar
6 oz. (170 g) Butter at room temperature
3 Tablespoons (25 g) Fresh brewer’s yeast
For the syrup:
About ½ quart (0.5 liter) Water
Almost 2 cups (420 g) Sugar
1 teaspoon Lemon zest
7.1 fluid ounces (210 ml) Rum
Instructions:
Put the flour in a bowl and add the dry brewer’s yeast, then mix with a spoon. Also add the sugar, vanilla extract, and a vial of orange flavoring.
In a separate bowl, break the eggs, add the salt, and mix.
Add the egg mixture to the powders in two rounds; mix first with a spoon, and then by hand.
Add the softened butter, bit by bit, and continue kneading. The dough will initially be loose but, by kneading and gradually adding the butter, it will become shiny and more flexible.
When the dough is ready, cover it with cling film and let it rise until it doubles in volume. It will take about 2 hours.
In the meantime, butter the babà molds with the softened butter spread using a kitchen brush. (We used the medium molds.)
Once the rising time has elapsed, grease your hands with butter and take small portions of dough, giving them a rounded shape.
Put the ball inside the mold and continue until they are all filled.
Cover the molds with cling film and let them rise again, until the dough reaches the edge of the mold. It will take about 45 minutes.
Bake the babàs in a static oven preheated to 340°F (170°C) for 15-20 minutes. Then take them out of the oven, let them cool, and remove them from the molds.
In the meantime, prepare the syrup: put the sugar, lemon zest and water in a saucepan, mix and bring to a boil.
Let it boil for 5 minutes, then turn off and let it cool.
Pour the warm syrup into a bowl and add the rum, stirring.
Dip the babàs in the syrup, a little at a time. Turn them several times so that they are well soaked. We squeeze them slightly and gradually put them on the plates.
