Born from a kouglof that was too dry before being reinvented by Stohrer, Rum Baba became established as a classic brioche cake generously soaked. This perfumed dessert, which has become emblematic, opens the rest of our series dedicated to the great French pastries.
A flagship dessert of French gastronomy, it is both sensorial, exotic and spectacular: Rum Baba has enchanted gourmands for nearly three centuries! In the 18th century, Stanislas Leszczynski, former King of Poland exiled in Lorraine, found his kouglof — an Alsatian cake — too dry. He then had the idea of soaking it in red wine to make it more flexible and tender.
In the 19th century, the pastry chefs of the Stohrer house – founded by the pastry chef of King Louis XV – perfected this gustatory experience. They replaced the red wine with rum and gave birth to an elegant, perfumed pastry generously soaked: Rum Baba.
Rum Baba seduces with its soft, dense and brioche texture as well as its sweet and alcoholic syrup with warm, vanilla or spiced aromas. It is often topped with whipped cream and showcased by theatrical service in the restaurant, which makes it a true gourmand experience!
Quote from chef*** Alain Ducasse: “for a gourmand, the mere fact of saying the word “rum baba” evokes a foretaste of what can be most delicious, tender and fragrant, soaked in syrup and melting as desired, in short a moment of perfect pleasure. Seeing it thus lustrous with its apricot glaze, ready to receive its ultimate anointing of aged rum, it appears to me as a small masterpiece of good taste. It is my dessert among desserts, present on my tables in Monaco, at the Restaurant Louis XV…”
