Rum Baba (Trial 1)

I’ve enjoyed the rum baba (baba au rhum) bought at a local Italian bakery over the years and kept meaning to try making them myself, but the cost of the molds kept me from the attempt. And then I retired and decided to splurge.

This was my first attempt. I used a recipe I found on line which has now disappeared. It was fine EXCEPT for the fact that it called for a crazy amount of salt. But I followed the recipe – bought the bread flour called for too – even though my baking ‘sense’ was flashing RED. And I was right. The babas took forever to rise and, even after soaking in the rum syrup, they were salty. I ate a couple and then tossed the rest. Now that I have the molds, I’ll probably make them again. Someday. And use a lot less salt.

Soaked baba ready for the cut and a channel cut into the baba for the whipped cream

Prepared mold and risen batter

Baked babas and soaking in the rum syrup

 

Advertisement

Drunken Elf

I was reading fanfiction (PLEASE don’t judge me) last week and ran across a selection of naughty and nice Christmas-themed drinks in one of the stories. One of the ones that caught my attention, mostly because it only had a few ingredients, was the Drunken Elf. For colouring the pink lemonade, I used some of my home made cranberry sauce. The results … delicious.

Drunken Elf – makes 1 drink

1 oz Bacardi Golden Rum
Pink Lemonade
crushed candy cane for rimming the glass
2-3 frozen cranberries, for garnish
1 mini candy cane, for garnish

Glaze For Coating/rimming the glass – Combine 2 tbsp icing sugar and 1 tsp water in a shallow plate or saucer. Stir well.

Dip the rim of each glass into the glaze then dip into the crushed candy cane, chocolate shot or Christmas sprinkles. Let dry thoroughly.

In a pitcher, or large measuring cup, add as much of the rum and lemonade as needed per person. Pour into prepared glasses. Add a couple or three cranberries per glass.

Serve with a mini candy cane hanging off the edge off each glass.

For the Pink Lemonade – Add raspberry syrup to your regular lemonade until it’s the colour you like. For a Christmas theme, stir some cranberry sauce into about 1/4 cup of the lemonade. Strain out any berries or seeds and add to your jug of lemonade.

Add some frozen cranberries to your jug before bringing it to the table to serve.