This Week: Rum Baba (Baba au Rhum)

Central Europe is a cozy place to be this time of year, so the way I see it, why not stay? But wait, you might say, isn’t baba au rhum a French thing? Indeed it has come to be known as French, but in truth the baba (babka) originated well to the east of there. It took the French to completely soak the baba in alcohol, and for that we shall be forever grateful. But we can’t allow that to distract us from the truth: that the baba is Poland’s/the Ukraine’s/Belarus’ gift to the pastry world. It’s also a standard that everyone who bakes pastry should have in their repertoire. So let’s get going, shall we?