Mama au rhum

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I live in Paris, but am currently in America for a month. I had originally intended to briefly visit my parents, and then wander around the Northeast on a Grand American Tour. But for various reasons, the Tour has been postponed and I am still under my parents’ roof. This is scary.

Dough:

3 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 cups white flour

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 eggs

1/4 cup warm water

2 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast

3 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups water

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/3 cup dark rum

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1. Mix one tablespoon of sugar and 1/4 cup water with the yeast. Put in oven (on low heat, between 80-100 degrees) for 10 minutes. The mixture should double.

2. In a small saucepan, combine the milk and 4 tablespoons of the butter. Mix until the butter melts.

3. Sift the flour into a large bowl, make a well in the middle. Add the remaining sugar, salt, eggs, the yeast mixture and the butter mixture. Beat with a whisk.

4. The dough should be warm and very sticky. Use your hands to pull the dough, and slap it back down into the bowl. Continue for 5 minutes, until the dough can be stretched without breaking. Roll the dough into a ball and cover with a damp towel. Put it in a warm place and let the dough rise for 2 hours (until doubled in size).

5. With the remaining butter, grease a muffin pan. Divide the dough among the cups, filling each 1/3 full. Cover with a damp towel and put in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.

6. Place the pan in an oven, heated to 375 degrees and let bake 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Unmold them, and set on rack.

7. While the babas are cooling, prepare the syrup. Bring the granulated sugar and water to a boil. Add the orange juice and cook for 5 minutes. Let it cool, then add the rum.

8. Poke the babas with a wooden skewer and place in a shallow baking dish. Spoon the syrup over them. Let stand for 5 minutes, then spoon syrup again. Repeat several times. Put rack on a baking sheet, and place babas on the rack, so that they drain. Place babas on another plate, and refigerate for several hours.

9. To serve the babas, place each on an individual place. Add whipped cream or orange zest. Then run up to your room, slam the door and say “I’M NOT GROUNDED! I WISH I WERE ADOPTED!” and cry for thirty minutes. Oh wait. No. You’re not fifteen anymore. It’s okay.

Finish the rum.