Baba au Rhum

The dough:

120 g sugar
200 g flour
1 packet yeast
10 cl of milk
70 g melted butter
3 eggs

The syrup:

300 g sugar
1/3 liter of water
1 cup of rum

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar and yeast together.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and the milk until incorporated, then add in the melted butter and mix well.
Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and gently mix to a consistent dough until there are no more lumps.
Cover the bowl with saran wrap and leave in a warm place to allow the dough to rise, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours until bubbles start to appear on the surface.
Arrange the oven rack in the middle of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 350 degF.
Butter the individual molds and if you can (instead of using a small spoon), pipe in the batter 1/4 from the top.
Place it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
When done remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding onto a cooling rack.
While the babas are baking, prepare the syrup.
Place the sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar.
Allow to cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gently pack the babas into low wide-mouth canning bottles leaving at least an inch from the top.  Pour in the rum syrup to cover the babas and seal tight.
Refrigerate the baba au rhum for at least 4 hours before serving.  Better still, they can be made days ahead and refrigerated.
Serve chilled with fresh strawberries and a dollop of chantilly cream, or they are just as good straight from the bottle.