Rum baba with milk ice cream and English raspberries

  • medium
  • 10
  • 1 hour 30 minutes plus 1 hour 45 minutes proving time and overnight freezing time
5.00

Rum baba is a classical French dessert of individual yeasted cakes which are soaked in a citrus-flavoured rum syrup. Emily Roux and Diego Ferrari serve these glossy little cakes with a simple milk ice cream and raspberries with a selection of foraged leaves and cresses. 

First published in 2021

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Milk ice cream

  • 425g of whole milk
  • 45g of caster sugar
  • 110g of dextrose
  • 2g of Stabiliser Stab 2000
  • 1g of salt
  • 300g of double cream

Rum babas

  • 125g of strong white flour
  • 8.5g of caster sugar
  • 2.75g of dried yeast
  • 112g of eggs
  • 1 tbsp of whole milk
  • 50g of unsalted butter, cubed
  • 2.5g of salt
  • 1/4 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped

Soaking Syrup

To serve

Equipment

  • Ice cream maker
  • Stand mixer with dough hook
  • Rum baba moulds 10

Method

1

Begin by making the ice cream so it has time to freeze and churn. Mix the sugar, dextrose, stabiliser and salt together in a bowl. Bring the milk to the boil and remove from the heat as soon as the first bubbles appear. Pour in all the dry ingredients and whisk vigorously

  • 425g of whole milk
  • 45g of caster sugar
  • 110g of dextrose
  • 2g of Stabiliser Stab 2000
  • 1g of salt
2

Once completely cooled, whisk in the cream and transfer to the ice cream machine to churn. Reserve in the freezer until needed

  • 300g of double cream
3

Next, make the babas. Place the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer with the yeast on one side and the salt on the other. Add the sugar and stir everything together with a spoon until evenly mixed

  • 125g of strong white flour
  • 8.5g of caster sugar
  • 2.75g of dried yeast
  • 2.5g of salt
4

Combine the milk and eggs, scraping in the seeds from the vanilla pod, then pour this mixture over the flour. Leave the dough hook on a medium speed for approximately 10 minutes or until a smooth and glossy dough forms

  • 112g of eggs
  • 1 tbsp of whole milk
  • 1/4 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
5

Add in the softened butter bit by bit until silky and stretchy (this should take a further 5 minutes of mixing). Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for 1 hour or until doubled in size

6

Once the dough has doubled in volume, roll out 10 individual balls (approx. 32g each) and place into baba moulds. Leave to prove once again for 45 minutes

7

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3 and bake the babas for 15 minutes or until beautifully golden in colour. Leave to cool completely

8

Meanwhile, make the soaking syrup by placing all the ingredients except the rum in a large saucepan and bring them to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the rum and cover with cling film. Leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes or until it has cooled down to 38ºC (the temperature required to soak the babas)

9

Once cooled down to the correct temperature, soak the babas in the syrup for 5-7 minutes, turning them delicately throughout the whole process

10

Plate up the babas on their own individual plates. On the second plate, place 1 tablespoon of raspberry compote on the bottom of each dish and elegantly place the whole raspberries around the outside. Drizzle a little coulis inside each raspberry cavity and insert a quenelle of ice cream in the centre. Decorate with wood sorrel, alyssum flowers, sweet cicely and a pinch of ground black pepper

First published in 2021

After gaining experience in some of the most acclaimed kitchens in Europe, Emily Roux and Diego Ferrari decided to start a journey of their own by opening the refreshingly relaxed Caractère in Notting Hill, and they haven’t looked back since.

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