Baba with Rum Syrup

Ingredients

• one and a half pounds of flour
• one ounce of yeast
• four ounces of castor sugar
• eight ounces of butter
• three ounces of currants cleansed and picked
• one-third of a pint of milk
• two good pinches of salt
• one and a half pints of water
• four ounces of loaf sugar
• four tablespoonfuls of apricot jam
• two wineglassfuls of rum

Method

1. 1

   Dry the flour thoroughly, sift eight ounces of it into a warm, dry bowl, add the salt, and make a hole in the center.

2. 2

   Mix the yeast smoothly with a little warm milk, add it to the flour, knead the preparation into a smooth dough, then cover with a cloth, and let it rise in a warm place.

3. 3

   Sift the remainder of the flour into a large bowl, make a hole in the center, and put in the salt, sugar, warmed butter, eggs, and the remainder of the milk, beat with the hand for fifteen minutes and cover with a cloth.

4. 4

   When the dough has risen to twice its original size, mix the contents of the bowl together, add the currants and knead lightly for fifteen minutes.

5. 5

   Have ready one large or eight small well-buttered molds with straight sides, sprinkle the bottom and sides with a few currants, half fill with dough, stand near the fire until it rises nearly to the top of the mold, then bake in a moderately hot oven.

6. 6

   When done, turn on to a sieve, and baste well with rum syrup, then place in a hot dish, pour the syrup over, and serve hot.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Soyer's standard cookery (1912) by Nicolas Soyer, page 173. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Baba with Rum Syrup. INGREDIENTS — One and a half pounds of flour, one ounce of yeast, four ounces of castor sugar, eight ounces of butter, three ounces of currants cleansed and picked, one-third of a pint of milk, two good pinches of salt. For the syrup, one 250 STANDARD COOKERY. and a half pints of water, four ounces of loaf sugar, four tablespoonfuls of apricot jam, two wineglassfuls of rum. METHOD. — Dry the flour thoroughly, sift eight ounces of it into a warm, dry bowl, add the salt, and make a hole in the center. Mix the yeast smoothly with a little warm milk, add it to the flour, knead the preparation into a smooth dough, then cover with a cloth, and let it rise in a warm place. Sift the remainder of the flour into a large bowl, make a hole in the center, and put in the salt, sugar, warmed butter, eggs, and the remainder of the milk, beat with the hand for fifteen min- utes and cover with a cloth. When the dough has risen to twice its original size, mix the contents of the bowl together, add the currants and knead lightly for fifteen minutes. Have ready one large or eight small well-buttered molds with straight sides, sprinkle the bottom and sides with a few currants, half fill with dough, stand near the fire until it rises nearly to the top of the mold, then bake in a moderately hot oven. When done, turn on to a sieve, and baste well with rum syrup, then place in a hot dish, pour the syrup over, and serve hot. To make the syrup; boil the sugar and water together until con- siderably reduced, then add the jam, boil for ten minutes, strain, return to the stewpan, put in the rum, bring to boil- ing point, and use as directed. Babas with Kirsch. INGREDIENTS. — Two pounds of fine flour, one and a half ounces of yeast, sixteen to eighteen ounces of butter, two tablespoonfuls of currants, cleaned, two tablespoonfuls of sul- tanas, cleaned, two tablespoonfuls of castor sugar, ten eggs, the grated rind of the lemon, salt. For the syrup: one and a half pints of water

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.