#Honey Fig and Dried Fruit Rum Baba

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Honey Fig and Dried Fruit Rum Baba

Our New Year’s Day lunch ended gloriously, with this beautifully risen, perfectly soaked Honey Fig and Dried Fruit Rum Baba, crowned with drunk dried fruit and honey gazed figs; a delicious start to 2023!!! I wish you all a very Happy New Year!!

Ingredients (makes 1):

1/2 cup soft dried apricots

1/4 cup sultanas

1/4 cup almonds

1 cup good white rum (like Guadeloupe’s Damoiseau)

220 grams/8 ounces strong white flour

50 grams/1.75 ounce caster sugar

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

½ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

¼ cup milk

100 grams/ 3.5 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup caster sugar

2 heaped tablespoons pure local honey

1 cup water

½ cup double cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

6 or 7 fresh figs, rinsed

1 heaped teaspoon pure local honey

The day before, chop dried apricots. Combine, in a medium bowl, with sultanas and almonds. Pour white rum over dried fruits and cover wit cling film. Let infuse overnight.

In a large bowl, combine strong white flour, caster sugar, yeast and salt, making sure you don’t put the salt on top of the yeast, as it might kill it. Give a good stir; set aside.

In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs and the milk together until well-blended.

With a wooden spoon, gradually stir egg mixture into flour mixture, until a soft, sticky dough forms. Tip dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead, a good 10 minutes, until dough becomes smoother. Then, gradually knead in softened butter, until you have an elastic, shiny dough. Return to the bowl, and cover with a tea towel. Prove, one hour, or until doubled in size.

Generously butter a 20cm/8” baba tin.

Once proved, knock back the air, and spoon dough into a piping bag. Pipe dough prepared tin. Prove again, until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F.

Once the baba has risen, place in the middle of the warm oven, and bake, 25 to 30 minutes at 180°C/355°F, until a nice golden brown colour.

Drain rum-soaked, plumped-up dried fruit in a fine mesh sieve. Keep the fruit for later.

Whilst baba is baking, combine demerara sugar, honey, 3/4 of the dried-fruit-infused rum and water in a large saucepan, and heat over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar and honey have completely dissolved. Boil rapidly, a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in remaining dried-fruit-infused rum. Cover with a lid.

When the baba is baked, remove from the oven, and let cool, 15 minutes, before gently releasing from the tin. Then, carefully soak the sponge in the warm rum syrup, gently turning it to soak evenly. Gently lift out of the saucepan, and transfer to serving plate; set aside. Keep about a couple of tablespoons of the dried fruit rum syrup.

Let rum-soaked sponge cool at room temperature.

Drizzle reserved rum-soaked dried fruit with two tablespoons of the remaining rum syrup, to coat and glaze.

In a medium bowl, beat double cream with an electric beater until soft peaks form. Add four tablespoons cooled rum syrup, and continue beating until stiff peaks just form. Gently fold in three-quarters of the rum-soaked dried fruit. Set aside.

Melt butter in a small frying pan. Halve figs. Add to the butter when it is just foaming, and sauté, a couple of minutes. Drizzle with honey, and cook, a few minutes more until just glazed.

To serve, spoon Rum-soaked dried fruit whipped cream  in the centre of cooled baba. Garnish with honey fig halves and remaining rum-soaked dried fruits.

Enjoy Honey Fig and Dried Fruit Rum Baba immediately.

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Baba, Baby!!!

Today is my sister’s birthday! Since I first baked a couple of individual rum babas a few years ago --actually four, and we both ate two in one sitting, watching Vera on telly!-- she has declared the tipsy soaked sponge one of her favourite cakes! So whenever she visits, or on occasions like her birthday, I make one, and we both relish it!! Here are all the babas I’ve baked thus far --minus the jar of mini ginger rum babas that was part of her Christmas gift, because, she has not tried them yet, and all my recipes are tried and tasted!)

Caribbean Rum Babas

Satsuma Rum Baba

Pomegranate, Ginger and and Lime Rum Baba

Honey Fig and Dried Fruit Rum Baba