French Rum Baba

📘 What is Rum Baba

Rum baba, or Baba au rhum, is a famous French dessert that consists of a tender yeast cake soaked in rum syrup. It is very moist and is usually served with whipped cream or custard. This dessert is very popular around the Christmas or Easter season in France.

For the little story, it is said that Stanislaus I, Duke of Lorraine at the time, found his Bundt cake too dry and asked the cook to soak it in wine to make it moister. The rum baba was born (although there are many other versions of this story).

⭐️ Why You Should Try This Recipe

• It’s a classic. Rum baba is one of the most famous French desserts, and there is a reason why!
• It’s incredibly moist and flavorful. This rum baba is perfectly sweet with notes of orange, vanilla, and rum. It makes a fresh and delicious dessert that has nothing to envy the ones you can find in bakeries!
• It’s super easy to prepare. While this dessert might seem complicated, it’s not! It’s basically a brioche soaked in syrup and topped with cream.

🍊 Ingredient Notes

To keep this recipe vegan, I omitted the eggs that are often used in most rum baba recipes. Worry not, it doesn’t remove anything to the taste or texture, and tastes just as good! Here is what you will need to prepare rum baba:

• Flour – Use all-purpose flour.
• Yeast – Since the cakes are similar to a brioche, we will be using yeast to give them a light and airy texture. You can use instant yeast or active dry yeast.
• Milk – Use unsweetened plant-based milk. Almond, oat, soy, or even cashew milk work well.
• Butter – To give the cakes a rich and buttery flavor. Use store-bought or homemade vegan butter.
• Sugar – I went with granulated sugar, but light brown sugar or coconut sugar should work as well. You can also use vanilla sugar if you want extra vanilla flavor.
• Baking powder – Since this recipe doesn’t rely on eggs, I added some baking powder to allow the cakes to rise just a little bit more.
• Rum – A key ingredient in this recipe! It brings a ton of flavor to the syrup and gives this dessert its signature taste.
• Orange – Orange zest adds a citrusy and fruity flavor to the syrup.
• Vanilla – For extra flavor, you can use store-bought or homemade vanilla extract.

🥣 How to Make Rum Baba

This dessert consists of three steps: baking the cakes, preparing the syrup, and dipping the cakes into the syrup.

Cakes

1. Dissolve the yeast in warm almond milk and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Note: If using instant yeast, there is no need to rehydrate it.
2. Knead the flour with the diluted yeast, sugar, almond milk, and butter until smooth. You should end up with a thin batter, just a bit thicker than a pancake batter.
3. Transfer to a bowl and let the dough rise for about 1 hour in a warm place. The dough will double in volume.
4. Deflate the dough and transfer it to a piping bag. Fill a fluted tube baking pan to the 3/4 with the dough.
5. Let the dough rise for another 30 minutes.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the cakes are slightly golden brown. Let them cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Syrup

The syrup is the magical ingredient that gives the baba a ton of flavor. Simply combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and let it simmer covered for about 8 minutes.

Dipping

Finally, once the cakes are cool, dip each into the warm rum syrup and let them soak for about 2 minutes. Flip them once to allow them to get soaked evenly. You can now refrigerate the cakes for about 2 hours before serving!

To serve

Right before serving, drizzle each baba with a couple of tablespoons of the remaining rum syrup, top with whipped cream, and decorate with fresh fruits!

💬 FAQ

If you have never tried rum baba, I urge you to do so. It’s incredibly moist, and fresh, and packs a ton of flavor! If you like rum, there is no chance you will not like this dessert!

🇫🇷 More French Desserts

• Easy Vegan Crepes
• Vegan Caramel Flan
• Vegan Ile Flottante
• Vegan Creme Brulee

Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!