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Alternative names | Baba au rhum, savarin (closely related dessert), babà or babbà (in Naples) |
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Type | Cake |
Course | Dessert |
Place of origin | France |
Region or state | Lorraine |
Main ingredients | Eggs, milk, butter, rum |
A rum baba or baba au rhum is a small yeast cake saturated in syrup made with hard liquor, usually rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream. It is most typically made in individual servings (about a 5 cm tall, slightly tapered cylinder) but sometimes can be made in larger forms similar to those used for Bundt cakes. The batter for baba includes eggs, milk and butter.
The original form of the baba was similar to the baba or babka, a tall, cylindrical yeast cake. The name means 'old woman' or 'grandmother' in most Slavic languages; babka is a diminutive of baba.
The modern baba au rhum (rum baba), with dried fruit and soaked in rum, was invented in the rue Montorgueil in Paris, France, in 1835 or before. Today, the word baba in France and almost everywhere else outside Central and Eastern Europe usually refers specifically to the rum baba.
The original baba was introduced into France in the 18th century via Lorraine. This is attributed to Stanislaus I, the exiled king of Poland. [1] [2] The Larousse Gastronomique has reported that Stanislaus had the idea of soaking a dried Gugelhupf (a cake roughly similar to the baba and common in Alsace-Lorraine when he arrived there) or a baba with alcoholic spirit. Another version [3] is that when Stanislaus brought back a baba from one of his voyages it had dried up. Nicolas Stohrer, one of his pâtissiers (or possibly just apprentice pâtissiers at the time), solved the problem by adding Malaga wine, saffron, dried and fresh raisin and crème pâtissière . The writer Courchamps stated in 1839 that the descendants of Stanislaus served the baba with a saucière containing sweet Malaga wine mixed with one sixth of Tanaisie liqueur.
Stohrer followed Stanislaus's daughter Marie Leszczyńska to Versailles as her pâtissier in 1725 when she married King Louis XV, and founded his pâtisserie in Paris in 1730. One of his descendants allegedly had the idea of using rum in 1835. While he is believed to have done so on the fresh cakes (right out of the mold), it is a common practice today to let the baba dry a little so that it soaks up the rum better. Later, the recipe was refined by mixing the rum with aromatized sugar syrup.
The baba is also popular in Naples, and became a popular Neapolitan specialty under the name babà or babbà. [4]
The pastry has appeared on restaurant menus in the United States at least since 1899. [5]
In 1844, the Julien Brothers, Parisian pâtissiers, invented the savarin, which is strongly inspired by the baba au rhum, but is soaked with a different alcoholic mixture and uses a circular (ring) cake mould instead of the simple round (cylindrical) form. The ring form is nowadays often associated with the baba au rhum as well, and the name savarin is also sometimes given to the rum-soaked circular cake.
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
A waffle is a dish made from leavened batter or dough that is cooked between two plates that are patterned to give a characteristic size, shape, and surface impression. There are many variations based on the type of waffle iron and recipe used. Waffles are eaten throughout the world, particularly in Belgium, which has over a dozen regional varieties. Waffles may be made fresh or simply heated after having been commercially cooked and frozen.
A Gugelhupf (also Kugelhupf, Guglhupf, Gugelhopf, pronounced[ˈɡuːɡl̩.hʊp͡f,-hɔp͡f,ˈkuːɡl̩-], and, in France, kouglof, kougelhof, or kougelhopf, is a cake traditionally baked in a distinctive ring pan, similar to Bundt cake, but leavened with baker's yeast.
A profiterole, cream puff (US), or chou à la crème is a filled French choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream. The puffs may be embellished or left plain or garnished with chocolate sauce, caramel, or a dusting of powdered sugar. Savory profiterole are also made, filled with pureed meats, cheese, and so on. These were formerly common garnishes for soups.
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A Konditorei is a business that typically offers a wide variety of pastries and typically also serves as a café. Konditoreien (plural) are found in many countries including but not limited to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. In French-speaking countries, similar businesses are referred to as pâtisseries.
The poppy seed roll is a pastry consisting of a roll of sweet yeast bread with a dense, rich, bittersweet filling of poppy seed. An alternative filling is a paste of minced walnuts, or minced chestnuts.
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The savarin mould is a large ring shaped mould, designed originally with an accompanying gâteau recipe in mind. It was created by the Julien brothers, Parisian pastry chefs who owned Julien Frères, a respected pastry shop in Paris in the mid 19th century. The name Savarin is given in honour of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, the famous French gourmet, who gave Auguste Julien the recipe for the rum syrup used in the original Savarin Gâteau. In modern times, however, the moulds are used for many preparations, sweet and savoury, including meat, seafood, and vegetable dishes, as well as cakes, breads, mousses and jellies.
Gâteau nantais is a cake originating in the city of Nantes in France. It is a soft, round pound cake, made of flour, sugar, salted butter, eggs, and almond meal, then dampened with a punch of rum and lemon, sometimes with an apricot gelée centre. The round shaped cake top is topped with a white glaze thinned with rum, although lemon or orange blossom water can be substituted if the cake is to be served to children. It is recommended to make the cake a day before it is intended to be served. It keeps very well. An earlier version of the recipe, without eggs, reportedly kept for three to four weeks. In the modern recipe, the icing is white, whereas earlier versions were an amber colour.
Plombières is a type of French ice cream made with almond extract, kirsch, and candied fruit.
Easter cakes (breads) are cakes prepared and served during the Easter season. Sharing a cake with family for Easter is an Easter tradition in many denominations and countries.
The fifth season of The Great Canadian Baking Show premiered on CBC Television on October 17, 2021. As with previous seasons, ten amateur bakers will compete over eight weeks of challenges, vying for the title. Ann Pornel and Alan Shane Lewis return for their second season as hosts. Bruno Feldeisen and Kyla Kennaley return for their fifth and third seasons respectively as judges.