French winter warmer recipes: Babas au Rhum 

Legend tells that this winter warmer recipe was invented in the early 18th Century for the King of Poland.

Louis XV's father-in-law, the King of Poland, came to stay in Nancy. Finding the local cake too dry, he asked for it to be soaked with Hungarian Tokay wine.

The Rum Babas as we know them today were created later in Paris in 1735 thanks to the King's former pâtissier, Nicolas Stohrer. Wine was replaced with rum, and the recipe later adjusted by mixing the rum with sugar syrup.

Some recipes call for a yeast dough, but this recipe is easier and quicker. Use either a bundt pan or moule couronne', or individual moulds.

Serves 4

Ingredients

120g flour
50g melted butter
150g sugar
1 sachet of baking powder (levure chimique)
3 soup spoons of warm milk
3 eggs
250ml water
250ml sugar cane syrup (usually on the shelf near the rum)
10cl rum

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Whip the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is white. Fold in the milk, melted butter, flour and baking powder.

In another bowl, whip the egg whites into stiff peaks, and fold them gently into the batter. 

Tip the mixture into a bundt tin or into individual moulds if desired.

Bake at 180C for 25 minutes. Warm the syrup with the water and rum and remove the baba from the mould. Slowly pour the syrup over the baba until it has absorbed it all.

Serve with whipped cream and a glacé cherry.