Rum baba – neapolitan dessert
Ready in
7 hours
Preparation
3 hours*
Cooking
30 min
Portions
15 Pieces
Cost
chip
difficulty
medium
babà of napoli
Neapolitan Rum baba
The Neapolitan rum baba differs from the French one, for its elasticity, in fact, the main secret to making an excellent Neapolitan rum baba lies in the dough, then, in the soaking that must remain all wet but not soaked in syrup.
With the words “Si nù babbà”, or, “È nù babbà”, in the jargon of us Campania in Italy, it means, in fact, a thing or person that has a certain balance. To make an excellent Neapolitan rum baba, therefore, it takes a certain skill but, I don’t want to discourage you, arm yourself with patience, time and follow all the steps that I will show you in this recipe, in the end you will have an excellent result.
After the Neapolitan Rum Babà, many variations have been created, do not worry in my blog dedicated to cooking you will find a lot of dessert recipes including those of: “Affogato Rum Baba“, “Rum Baba Cake” and “Rum Baba with diplomatic cream and black cherries” and the “Rum Babà with whipped cream“.
Ingredients
dough
- 250g flour 00
- 75g butter
- 25g sugar
- 3 whole eggs
- 5g salt
- 12g brewer’s yeast
wetting
- 4 liter water
- 500g sugar
- 4 organic lemon
- 600 ml liqueur for dessert or rum
Polishing
- 20g cornstarch
- 20g apricot jam
- 40g sugar
- 8 lemon drops
- 250 ml water
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Directions
In the bowl of the stand mixer, put the flour, crumbled brewer’s yeast, salt and sugar. Attach the leaf whisk and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes
Still with the planetary mixer running at medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, waiting for the flour to absorb the previous one to add the other
While the planetary mixer continues to knead, cut the butter at room temperature into small pieces and add it to the dough a little at a time, exactly as you did with the eggs
Work at medium speed for 2 minutes, then gradually bring it to maximum and let it work for 1 minute, then gradually go down to zero, let it stay off for 1 minute
After one minute, turn on the planetary mixer again and always a little at a time bring it to the maximum, let it work for 2 minutes at the most then lower the speed to zero, let it rest for 1 minute
Turn the planetary mixer back on and do the same operation described in the previous step, that is, bring from zero to maximum, let it work for 2 minutes and go down to zero. At this point the dough must be elastic
Remove the bowl from the planetary mixer and put it to rise in the oven for 2 hours or until it has become very swollen
Grease the baba molds, flour and remove the excess flour
Take the bowl from the oven, disassemble the dough, that is, with your hands or a silicone spatula, you detach it from the edges of the bowl, so it becomes once again as it was before rising
With a spoon pour the dough into the buttered molds reaching a maximum of half, now place the filled molds in a pan and put them to rise in the off oven for about 1 hour or until the baba dome forms
Remove the pan with the molds from the oven, turn on the oven at 180°C (350°F) in static mode, when it has reached temperature, about 5 minutes, put them in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until they are golden brown. Remove from the oven and put them to cool covered with a tablecloth
While the baba cools we prepare the syrup. Pour 4 liters of water into a large pot, add the peels of the 4 lemons, the sugar and boil for 30 minutes over high heat, or until it has reduced to two thirds, turn off, let it cool, then add half. some rum
In a large bowl pour the syrup, then put 3 or 4 babas at a time and from time to time press them gently with your hands until they are soaked well
As soon as the babas are well soaked, gently squeeze them one by one between both hands and then place them in a tray with high sides. Repeat the last 2 steps until they are all soaked
Now sprinkle all the baba with the remaining rum and put them in the fridge to rest
Meanwhile the babas rest in the fridge, prepare the gelatin for polishing. Take a saucepan, pour the cornstarch, sugar and mix the powders well
Add the water a little at a time and always turn it so as not to form lumps
At this point, always stirring, add a few drops of lemon
After having incorporated the lemon well, add the apricot jam
Always stirring, cook the mixture over medium heat for a few minutes, when it begins to thicken, turn off and let it cool for 10 minutes
Now with the use of a pastry brush, brush the jelly all over the baba.
Now the rum babas are ready!
tips
- Gently squeeze all the babas one at a time in your hands.
- Baba grows a lot after wetting, therefore, adjust yourself well with the tray and it must be with high edges otherwise the wets will come out.
Storage
- After cooked and without being wet, the babà can be kept at room temperature, wrapped in cling film for 10 days.
- The wet babas can be kept in the fridge for 2 days.
Equipments
- Planetary mixer
- Leaf or hook whisk
- Oven
- 20 molds for baba
- Knife
- Cookware
- Small saucepan
- Top dispenser (bottle with spout)
- Baking tray or dripping pan
- Silicone spatula
- 2 tbsp
- 36 cm bowl
- Bowl 20 cm
- Tray
- Tablecloth
- Cooker
Che dire sublime sei il massimo prenderò esempio da te anche perché sono scritte belle chiare e con una semplicità unica
Salve
Mia ha piaciuto tantissimo la forma e la descrizione della ricetta.
Una pagina bellissima e anche ben leggibile e benfatta.
Complimenti!
È stato un piacere da lontano visitare il suo sito.
Da molto tempo che volevo provare i babà napoletani, gli preparerò para questo Natale.
Napoli rimasto per sempre nel mio cuore e ho lasciato il più grande amore della mia vita a quella terra.
Bella Napoli!
Grazie per la ricetta.
Con tuto il cuore, tanti saluti da terra africana.
Chef Dario di Angola
Ciao Dario, grazie di aver apprezzato il nostro lavoro.
Ti auguro buon Natale e un felice anno nuovo 😊
Quando li farai facci sapere come sono venuti 😉