So at what point did the Central European baba become “baba au rhum?” It clearly had to be during or after the Colonial Era, since there’s no rum without sugar, and the West Indian sugar trade didn’t get going in earnest until about the middle of the 1500’s. But even so it was about another […]
READ ONThat question from reader Cynthia. The answer is that he was a writer and eater who was also part scientist, part physician, part philosopher and part critic. He was, in other words, a man of letters who lived and thrived before modern specialized society put up the barriers that now largely divide the humanities and the sciences. Thomas Jefferson was such a person, as I’ve remarked in the past, which makes it unsurprising that the two knew each another. Jefferson in fact taught Brillat-Savarin how to truss a turkey. But as usual I’m getting ahead of myself.
READ ONWhat’s the difference between the two? reader Laura asks YET AGAIN. So OK, a kugelhopf is a German version of a baba, baked in one large cake. It usually contains candied fruit, nuts and citrus peel and is sometimes iced or covered with powdered sugar. A kugelhopf is similar to a savarin in that its name is derived from the pan it’s baked in. Which is to say, a kugelhopf denotes a shape. And indeed kugelhopf pans are quite distinctive in their appearance, being quite tall with swirled fluting on the sides and top. Beneath those dramatic contours, though, it’s pretty much your classic baba. Happy now, reader Laura??? Sheesh!
READ ONWhat’s the difference between the two? reader Laura also asks. That’s another good question, since the two are closely connected. How are they connected? Well it seems that back in Paris in about the year 1845, a pair of pastry-making brothers by the last name of Julien created a baba that they made in a large, doughnut-shaped pan. It had no fruit in it, however it was soaked in a sweet syrup, the recipe for which was a big secret at the time. They called their masterpiece a “Savarin”, after the late gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.
READ ONWhat’s the difference between the two? asks reader Laura. Since they both originate in the same place, there really shouldn’t be much difference. However a baba is generally recognized as a small, cylindrical cake that may contain candied fruit, and may not be doused in rum syrup. A babka has come to mean something rather different. It’s also made from a yeast-leavened dough, but it’s a single large cake, usually ring-shaped, and usually filled with some sort of candied or dried fruit filling. Or at least that’s how Central European Christians interpret it.
READ ONWhat’s the difference between the two? asks reader Claire. There’s no question that the two are very similar, reader Claire. Both are yeast-leavened and both are quite buttery. However there is a difference between them, and that has to do with how much egg they contain. A typical baba is much eggier, which makes it lighter, more cake like and a good deal more crumbly.
READ ONIt’s a grandmother. Or an old lady. That’s what “baba” means in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish, or so I understand. What does a tall, cylindrical shape have to do with a grandmother? That’s a very good question, for indeed for much of their history, baba molds were extremely tall things. It’s said that in imperial […]
READ ONI’m planning on doing a NOLA-style kings’ cake for mardi gras next month, and am trying to locate something close to a definitive recipe. I have it on good authority that the real deal came from a bakery called McKenzie’s that is now out of business. Anyone who knows where I might be able to […]
READ ONBabas are not unlike brioche: light, rich yeasted breads. However the formula has a little less butter. Fat tenderizes any dough that it’s added to, and that’s usually a good thing. Babas, however, get soaked with alcoholic syrup. Breads that are very, very tender will tend to fall apart under those conditions. That’s especially true […]
READ ONCentral 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:
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