Baba au Rhum! This classic pastry features enriched yeasted cake doused with rum syrup. The babas are brushed with apricot glaze for a kick of fruit flavor and topped with whipped cream for a luscious finish.

a baba au rhum pastry on a plate with whipped cream.

If you want to make a sophisticated dessert, look no further. Baba au Rhum is a grown up dessert that’s not too sweet. Most of the work can be done well before your guests arrive.

Before we go on, if you’ve got a sourdough starter, you might want to make this Sourdough Baba Au Rhum instead.

Ingredients

Whole milk
Instant dry yeast
Granulated sugar
Eggs
All purpose flour
Table salt
Unsalted butter
Raisins or currants
Dark rum
Water (2 cups)
Vanilla bean
Apricot preserves
Heavy cream
Confectioner’s sugar
Vanilla extract

How to make Baba au Rhum:

two photos showing how to mix baba pastry dough

Toss in softened butter with the mixer running.
The texture will be something between a batter and a dough.

two photos showing how to add rum raisins to baba pastry dough

After the dough has risen.
Stir in the rum-soaked raisins.

three photos showing baba dough before rising, risen and baked.

Fill the pans no more than half way.
Let the dough rise to fill the pans.
Bake until golden brown.

Soak the pastries in rum syrup.

a baba au rhum being brush with apricot preserves

Brush the babas with apricot preserves.

To serve, split the baba in half and drizzle with more rum syrup.

Pastry Chef Tips for making Baba au Rhum:

You can skip the rum raisins, but they do add a nice textural contrast and little bursts of sweetness. You can also use golden raisins, currants or dried cranberries instead of raisins.
The dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days before adding the raisins and filling the pans. The rising time may be longer if you’re working with cold dough.
I used non-stick popover pans to make the babas. You can use muffin pans or jumbo muffin pans. Whatever size pan you use, don’t fill them more than halfway.
Don’t overfill the pans. You want the dough to at least double in volume so the babas are nice and airy when they’re baked. A lighter baba will absorb more syrup.
You can adjust the amount of rum to taste, but the rum is integral to the flavor of the dessert.
The babas are best the day they are baked.
To work ahead you can freeze the babas as soon as they are cooled. Defrost and warm in the oven briefly before soaking in the syrup and serving.

a baba au rhum being doused with rum syrup

We love French Pastries. Here are more recipes for you to try: Pate a Choux, Chocolate Marveilluex, Merveilleux, Marolaine, Kouign-Amann, Caneles, Macarons, Sable Cookies, Madeleines and a romantic Coeur a la Creme.

If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a star rating and a quick comment. Ratings and comments help my recipes show in search results. Thanks!

a baba au rhum on a plate with whipped cream

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5 from 5 reviews

Baba au Rhum Recipe

By: Eileen Gray

This classic pastry features enriched yeasted cake doused with lots of rum syrup. The babas are brushed with apricot glaze for a kick of fruit flavor and topped with whipped cream for a luscious finish.

Prep Time30

Bake Time20

Rising Times1 30

Total Time2 20

12 servings

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Ingredients

For the Dough:

4 ounces whole milk (1/2 cup, scalded and cooled to 110 °F)
2 ¼ teaspoons instant dry yeast (1 packet)
1 ounce granulated sugar (2 tablespoons)
5 large eggs (room temperature)
15 ounces all purpose flour (3 cups, see note)
½ teaspoon table salt
3 ounces unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
½ cup raisins or currants
4 ounces dark rum (½ cup)

For assembly:

16 ounces water (2 cups)
16 ounces granulated sugar (2 cups)
½ vanilla bean (split)
12 ounces apricot preserves (1 cup)
8 ounces heavy cream (1 cup)
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Combine the milk with the yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached. Or use a large mixing bowl with use a hand mixer or wooden spoon.
4 ounces whole milk, 2 ¼ teaspoons instant dry yeast, 1 ounce granulated sugar
With the mixer running on low, add the eggs. Then add the flour and salt and mix until the flour is incorporated.
5 large eggs, 15 ounces all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon table salt
With the mixer running, toss in the softened butter, a tablespoon at a time. Mix until the butter is incorporated. The texture will be a very thick batter or very loose dough. It will not come together like a bread dough. Cover the bowl and set it aside to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, soak the raisins in the rum and generously butter 12 baba or popover molds. (If you’re using a non-stick pan you don’t need to butter.)
3 ounces unsalted butter, ½ cup raisins or currants, 4 ounces dark rum
When the dough is ready, drain the raisins and reserve the rum. Stir the raisins into the dough until they are evenly distributed. Divide the dough evenly among the prepared molds, filling each no more than 1/2 way. Cover the tray and set it aside until the dough fills the molds, about 30-45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Slide the trays into the oven and bake until the babas are well browned, about 20 minutes. Start checking the babas at 15 minutes. The total baking time will vary based on the type of pan used. Remove the tray from the oven. Turn the babas out of the pans onto a wire rack.
While the babas bake and cool, make the rum syrup. Combine the water with the sugar in a medium sauce pan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and stir them into the syrup. Toss in the vanilla pod. Bring the mixture up to a boil then turn off the heat. Add enough new rum to the reserved rum to bring it back up to a 1/2 cup. Add the rum to the syrup.
16 ounces water, 16 ounces granulated sugar, ½ vanilla bean
Place as many babas as will fit into the pot of syrup. Leave them in the syrup for 10 minutes, flipping them around after 5 minutes to soak the other side. Lift the babas out of the syrup and set them onto a wire rack set over a clean sheet pan to drain. Continue with the remaining babas. Reserve any left over syrup for plating.
Warm the apricot preserves and strain to remove the chunks of fruit. Brush the tops and sides of each baba with the preserves. Let the babas cool completely before plating and serving.
12 ounces apricot preserves
To serve. Whip the cream with the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla. Place a baba on it’s side on a dessert plate. Split it lengthwise and open it like a book. Drizzle the middle of the baba with left over syrup to taste. Pipe or scoop a generous dollop of whipped cream into the center.
8 ounces heavy cream, 2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Equipment

My Book

KA Stand Mixer

Disposable Decorating Bags

Popover Pan

Cooling Rack

Half Sheet Pans

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Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.

I used non-stick popover pans to make the babas. You can use muffin pans or jumbo muffin pans. Whatever size pan you use, don’t fill them more than halfway.

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