Recipe of the month

VANILLA RHUM AND CITRUS BABA

BABA DOUGH

• Flour 500 g
• Eggs 300 g
• Caster sugar 20 g
• Salt 15 g
• Fresh yeast 20 g
• Butter 130 g
• Milk 160 g

Place all ingredients into mixing bowl with a dough hook, leave butter at room temperature with the eggs. Mix until dough comes together and add eggs until the dough starts to come off the sides. Gradually add butter. Continue mixing until dough comes off the sides for a second time. Pipe 500 g batter into a large charlotte mould. Flatten well the dough on top so that it is as even as possible. Bake at 180°C for 35 to 40 minutes and dry out at 150°C.

VANILLA CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE

• Milk 500 g
• Caster sugar 100 g
• Eggs 100 g
• Corn starch 40 g
• Vanilla bean 1/2 piece

Heat milk with scraped vanilla in a saucepan. Cover and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. Strain to remove vanilla bean. Mix eggs with sugar and starch. Mix well and add a small amount of hot milk. Pour back into saucepan and cook as for a crème patissiere, giving a 1 to 2 minute boil. Set aside, wrapping directly the surface and refrigerate.

MASCARPONE VANILLA CHANTILLY

• Cream 35% MG 400 g
• Mascarpone 125 g
• Vanilla bean, scraped 1/2 piece
• Caster sugar 30 g

Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and whip to a soft, chantilly that still holds well. The fat from the cream and mascarpone will strengthen more the cream so it is important not to over whip. Make chantilly just before piping to ensure an optimal result.

SOAKING SYRUP

• Water 2,000 g
• Caster sugar 1,200 g
• Orange zests 2 pieces
• Rum 600 g
• Vanilla beans, dried 3 pieces

Place all ingredients into a large saucepan and heat syrup to 35-40°C. It is best to make the syrup a day in advance to leave the flavours to infuse in the baba.

ASSEMBLY

Soak baba. Pipe a small amount of vanilla crème patissiere to 2 cm thick. Pipe vanilla chantilly on top, forming nice balls.