Baba Cake

I can provide you the recipe for the baba cake, a leavened dessert that originated in Eastern Europe but has become a classic of Neapolitan pastry. Traditionally, the baba is soaked in a rum syrup or sometimes other alcoholic variations. Let’s prepare the classic version together.

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 500 g of flour type 00
• 250 g of sugar
• 200 ml of milk
• 100 g of butter
• 6 eggs
• 30 g of fresh brewer’s yeast
• A pinch of salt

For the syrup:

• 500 ml of water
• 400 g of sugar
• 200 ml of rum
• The rind of one lemon

Preparation

1. Start by dissolving the brewer’s yeast in warm milk.
2. In a bowl, mix the flour with the milk and the dissolved yeast, then add the eggs one at a time, the melted butter, the sugar, and a pinch of salt. Knead until you get a smooth and elastic dough.
3. Let the dough rest in a bowl, covered with a cloth, in a warm place until it has doubled in volume (about 2 hours).
4. When the dough is ready, butter and flour a baba cake mold. Pour the leavened dough into it and let it rise again until it reaches the edge of the mold.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and then bake the baba for about 30 minutes or until it turns golden on the surface.
6. While the baba is baking, prepare the syrup by boiling water with sugar and the lemon rind until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool, then add the rum.
7. Take the baba out of the oven and, while still warm, dip it into the syrup, ensuring it soaks well.
8. Let cool and drain on a grid.

Fun fact

The baba probably originated in the 17th century in Poland and only later arrived in Naples, becoming famous thanks to the sweetness of its syrup and the softness of its leavened dough. According to legend, the King of Poland, Stanislaw Leszczynski, after being exiled to France, found the German kugelhopf too dry for his taste; so he ordered it to be soaked in rum… and thus the baba was born! Over time, Neapolitans perfected the recipe, making it one of the symbols of their rich pastry tradition.