What is it?
Baba au rhum – or rum baba as it’s known in the anglophone world – is a yeast cake studded with dried fruit and soaked in a (very boozy) rum syrup, then topped with cream and fresh fruit. It’s usually made in individual servings, although you can find bigger ones too.
Where’s it from?
Rue Montorgueil in Paris, via Lorraine, via Poland. Let us explain. Stanislas I (1677-1766) abdicated the throne of his native Poland and settled in Lorraine which he ruled over as Duke (he was gifted the duchy as compensation for giving up the Polish crown). Being rather fond of cake, he was looking forward to trying the local gugelhupf – only to be disappointed by its dry texture. Not to be defeated, he ordered his pâtissiers to soak the cake in booze – sweet Malaga wine as it turns out – et voilà! a new dessert was born. A huge fan of The Thousand and One Nights, Stanislas named the delicious new pud after his hero, Ali Baba… or so the story goes. Other historians reckon the name comes from ‘baba’, the Slavic word for ‘grandma’ or ‘old woman’. To be fair, neither version makes a whole lot of sense.
What we’re fairly sure of, though, is that it was Nicolas Stohrer, one of Stanislas’s pastry chefs, who introduced the cake to Paris in 1730 when he opened a pâtisserie on Rue Montorgueil. Today, you can still visit Stohrer , one of the capital’s oldest pâtisseries, and treat yourself to an authentic baba au rhum. We’re not sure when the chosen alcohol changed from Malaga wine to rum, but the team at Stohrer insist it was one of Nicolas’ descendants who made the switch.
How do you say it?
This one’s easy – baba oh rum.
Where can I buy it?
It was pretty ubiquitous on menus in the 1970s but then fell very much out of fashion. However, it is enjoying somewhat of a resurgence (even Bonne Maman has brought out a version), so check your local cake shops as well as keeping an eye on dessert menus when you go out to eat. If you are in Paris, treat yourself at Stohrer (you can even buy a jar of babas to take home). And last but not least, perhaps it’s time to hit the kitchen…
Can I make it at home?
Absolument! Roll up your sleeves, crack open the rum, we have Alain Ducasse’s splendid rum baba recipe right here.
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