History

The baba reached Naples in the 18th century via the French court (itself imported from Poland by King Stanislaw Leszczynski); Neapolitan pastry makers adopted it and over two centuries made it their own, increasing the rum soaking and shrinking the size until today's individual baba napoletano bears little resemblance to the original.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs

Make it at home

Yield Makes 8 individual babasHands-on 40 minTotal 4 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • For the baba: 250g strong flour, 3 eggs, 70ml warm milk, 12g fresh yeast, 30g caster sugar, 70g soft unsalted butter, 1 tsp salt
  • For the syrup: 500ml water, 200g caster sugar, 150ml dark rum, zest of 1 lemon
  • To serve: 200ml double cream, lightly whipped

Method

  1. Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Combine with flour, eggs, sugar and salt in a mixer with a dough hook. Beat for 5 minutes. Add butter in pieces and beat for a further 5 minutes until the dough pulls from the bowl sides.
  2. Pipe or spoon into buttered baba moulds or a muffin tin, filling halfway. Cover and prove for 1 to 1.5 hours until doubled and domed.
  3. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 to 18 minutes until deep golden. Cool on a wire rack.
  4. Boil water and sugar for 5 minutes. Off the heat, add rum and lemon zest.
  5. While the baba are still warm, submerge them in the hot syrup for 2 minutes per side. They should feel saturated and slightly spongy when squeezed gently.
  6. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream on the side.

Tip from the editors. The baba must be soaked while still warm so the syrup penetrates; a cold baba will not absorb evenly.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat baba au rhum

Baba au Rhum in Naples

Scaturchio ★ 4.3

centro-storicoUntil 21:00

Scaturchio in Naples' Piazza San Domenico Maggiore opens its evening aperitivo from 18:00 to 21:00, with the ministeriale (chocolate-rum disc) and babà au rhum available at the counter until closing.

Try: Ministeriale, babà au rhum, espresso

Tip: Open daily 07:00 to 21:00. The aperitivo set runs 8 euros with a spritz and pasticcini from 18:00.

Piazza San Domenico Maggiore 19, 80134 Napoli

Gran Caffe Gambrinus ★ 4.5

Belle Epoque pastry breakfast€3-12toledoDaily 07:00-22:00Walk-in only

Gran Caffe Gambrinus on Piazza Trieste e Trento in Naples (1860) is the city's defining morning ritual, with the counter espresso and hot sfogliatella the Neapolitan brunch before brunch was a concept.

Order: Sfogliatella riccia hot from the counter, cioccolata calda in winter.

Tip: Standing at the counter is one-third the price of the seated terrace. Arrive by 09:30 on weekends before the tour groups.

Via Chiaia 1/2, 80132 Napoli

Pasticceria Moccia ★ 4.5

chiaiaTue-Sun 07:00-21:00, closed MondayWalk-in onlySfogliatella, babà au rhum

Moccia in Naples' Chiaia (Vomero branch too) has run the pastry-and-coffee counter since 1936, with the sfogliatella riccia and the babà au rhum the local order across two generations.

Tip: Closed Monday. Open Tue-Sun 07:00 to 21:00. Sfogliatella riccia sells out by 11:00 on Saturdays.

Worth the queue: Sfogliatella riccia

Via San Pasquale a Chiaia 21, 80121 Napoli

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