Ingredients:

4 cups bread flour (500 gr)

4 TBSPs honey

1 packet dry yeast

12 large eggs, kept cold in fridge (640 gr)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 sticks plus 1 1/2 TBSP butter, room temperature (250 gr)

Zest from one large lemon

For the infusion:

2 quarts water

3 1/2 cup sugar

2 1/4 cup Rum (more if desired)

Peels from one orange and one lemon, thinly peeled

1 vanilla bean

Apricot jam for final decoration

Directions:

Place flour, yeast, honey, vanilla, lemon zest and half (6) of the cold eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

Begin mixing on low to avoid splatter and then increase to medium.

Mix for 2-3 minutes until well-blended and smooth.

Carefully add half (3) of the remaining cold eggs and salt.

Continue mixing on medium until fully incorporated (about 3 minutes).

Meanwhile, dice the room temperature butter.

Add 1/3 of the butter to the batter.

Mix until incorporated.

Add another of the 1/3 butter and mix again until incorporated.

Add the last of the butter and repeat step to fully incorporate.

Finally, add the rest of the cold eggs (3) and mix on medium for 12 minutes.

Dough should be very elastic and, when you pull it up, it should look almost transparent.

While dough is mixing, grease and flour the baking cups.

Place dough into a piping bag with a large piping tip.

Fill baking cups to 3/4 full.

Place them on a baking sheet.

Cover with plastic film previously sprayed with baking spray so it won’t stick to dough when it rises.

Place in a cold oven with the oven light on to rise.

When dough rises above the baking cup and resembles a mushroom, remove from oven.

Place on countertop while oven preheats to 400F.

Remove plastic film and bake at 400 for 6 minutes.

Decrease oven temperature to 370 and bake for an additional 15 minutes until tops are light brown.

Shut off oven but let babà rest in there for a couple minutes before removing from oven.

Allow to cool on countertop for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place half of the water, all of the sugar, vanilla bean and the citrus peels in a saucepan.

Place over medium heat and stir to melt the sugar.

Bring to boil and allow to simmer for only one minute.

Remove from heat and add the rest of cold water.

Stir well and allow to sit until lukewarm.

Add rum and stir to incorporate.

Place rum syrup into a bowl.

Place a few babàs at a time in the syrup and dunk them to allow syrup to be absorbed.

Gently squeeze each babà to release the excess liquid and set aside in a platter.

Repeat process until all babàs have been infused.

Wait 5 minutes and repeat the dunking process for a second time.

Pour remaining syrup into a squirt bottle.

Place each babà into a cupcake liner (grease resistant or metallic ones work best).

Place 1 TBSP apricot jam in a a small glass bowl. Add 1 tsp water.

Mix and warm up in microwave for 30 seconds or until you have a shiny liquid.

Brush entire tops of babàs with jam mix.

You can serve the babàs plain or you can cut them in half and garnish with custard and a cherry (See tips).

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Right before serving, infuse with extra syrup with the squirt bottle.

TIPS:

The beauty of this dough is that it can also be made into a cake instead of individual pieces. Just place dough into a greased and floured Bundt pan. Follow rest of directions as above but bake 10 minutes at 400F and an additional 20 minutes at 370F or until top is light brown and cake tester comes out clean.

Babàs baking forms can be found at Italian markets or even on Amazon. They come in different sizes so make sure you know your preferred size before you order.

Babàs are delicious alone but even better if decorated with Italian custard. I have the recipe for it on my website and you can make it even a day ahead. An alternative is to use whipped cream instead. Just make sure to finish it with a red maraschino cherry!