Baba Au Bourbon
Ingredients
- Babas: ⓘ
- softened unsalted butter, as needed for greasing the mold ⓘ
- 3 large (170 g) eggs, separated ⓘ
- 1/2 cup (99 g) granulated sugar, divided ⓘ
- 1/4 cup (57 g) whole milk ⓘ
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter ⓘ
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
- 1 1/4 cups (150 g) all-purpose flour ⓘ
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder ⓘ
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) instant yeast
- zest of 1 orange ⓘ
- Soaking + Finishing ⓘ
- 3/4 cup (170 g) bourbon ⓘ
- 1/2 cup (113 g) water ⓘ
- 1/2 cup (106 g) dark brown sugar ⓘ
- zest and juice of 1 orange ⓘ
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped ⓘ
- 1 cinnamon stick ⓘ
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour the cavities of a popover pan (mine has 6 cavities; you could also use muffin cups, which will yield closer to 12 babas).
- Make the babas: In the bowl mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the egg yolks and 1/4 cup (half) of the sugar until it's pale and very thick (ribbon stage), 3-4 minutes. Set aside. You'll need the mixer bowl again later (clean) - so wash it quick now if you don't have a spare (or you can use a hand mixer + a regular bowl later).
- In a medium pot, heat the milk, butter, and vanilla bean scrapings until the butter is just melted; the milk shouldn't be too hot. Test it with your finger, it should feel warm, not hot. If it's hot, let it cool a bit before proceeding.
- Add the milk/butter mixture to the egg yolks and stir to combine. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, yeast, salt, orange zest to combine.
- Add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture and stir to combine.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until they start to get frothy, 1-2 minutes. Slowly stream in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue to whip on medium high speed until the mixture reaches medium peaks, 2-3 minutes more.
- Add about 1/4 of the egg whites into the batter. Mix to combine; this will help "temper" or lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites in 2 additions, very gently, just until incorporated.
- Fill the prepared pan 2/3 way full (if you're using muffin cups, fill the cups just over 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake until the babas have risen very tall and are evenly golden brown, 20-23 minutes.
- While the babas bake, make the soaking syrup: in a medium pot, stir the bourbon, water, dark brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice, vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, and cloves to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
- When the babas are baked, unmold immediately. Let them cool for a few minutes (no more than 10), then soak them in the syrup while they are still warm. Be generous - really dunk them. After you've dunked each one, dunk them all again-by the time you're done, the syrup should be gone.
- If using, warm the apricot jam in a small pot, then use the warm jam to glaze the babas. Serve warm, with whipped cream.
Nutrition & Diet Analysis (per serving)
1110
kcal
56% DV
Protein
Fat
Carbs
* % Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet (FDA 2020).