Baba au Rhum de la version la maison

Remember this?  The Whiskey Baba I enjoyed at a local restaurant?

Apparently the photo was so enticing that a friend on Facebook saw it and wanted a homemade version.  I hadn't planned on trying my hand at this but this friend and I experienced the other worldliness that was a network TV production.

He deserves a lot more than a simple recipe for Baba au Rhum after working on a program based on the premise that JFK was assassinated to cover up an alien invasion.  Hey it was the era of the X-Files and it's an adventure I'll never regret.  But what recipe to use?  At it's heart  Baba au Rhum  is a yeast cake dessert so finding a "good" recipe is important.  The recipe originating in France sent me on an email path to Virginia Willis.  Chef Willis is a graduate of Anne Willan's La Varenne Cooking School in Paris. Turns out that Virginia had to make Baba au Rhum as a final exam dish.  Yikes!  Of course she aced it.  However in my kitchen my humble efforts are not nearly as visually appealing or as tasty as Chef Willis's final exam but for friends like Michael, I did my best.

First you need a suitable molds for your little yeasties.  Like this.

These I do not have in my pantry.  However I did have this.

Which according to Chef Willis would work just fine as would a muffin pan or ramekins.  This is a two rise recipe if you are making these for an event, they actually work better if made on one day and served the next.

This my dough after massaging in the butter, rum and currants.

This is out of the oven and post rum bath.  In all honesty I let these go too long in the oven.  They should have more of a golden coloring instead of mahogany.  Lesson learned.

This is the traditional serving method with whipped cream and the rum sauce.  Despite my baking failures it still had a wonderful flavor and a creamy interior (thank you rum bath).  However I couldn't leave it at the traditional.  I decided to put my CSA rhubarb spin on it.

Instead of the rum sauce I drizzled that delicious rhubarb sauce that I used with the rice pudding liberally over my baba and chowed down.  Of course the rhubarb plays nicely with the whipped cream and even pairs up with the rum flavoring of the baba.  I don't know if this offering would have passed muster at La Varenne but I can assure you that aliens had nothing to do with the dish.  Bon Appetit Michael.

Goodbye Mr. Peeps

It's finally time to say to goodbye to our little brightly colored gobs of sugar. I know I'm excited. If you didn't get a chance to visit all our participants in the Peep Rush of 2010 here's what you missed.Pam over at Pamokc started us off on the right foot with her discovery of a very creative artist who calls herself Lipgloss Crisis. Peeps as bodice seems to work but she just might have an issue with titscrepency.


Dani of Gardening under the Florida Sun fame, shows us her Peeps and I'm not talking The Girlz in party hats and proving the marketers wrong once again that people do like eating blue foods. Actually Dani's tri-colored cupcakes makes her concoctions the Rainbow Warrior Peeps of the Dim Sum.


MS at Making Space has Quiche Eating Peeps. I actually speechless and just a little bit scared at the possible deeper psychological meaning of this photo. Moving on....

Chickory broke out her hot glue gun and varnish (there's something you don't hear too often said about Dim Sum Sunday dishes) for her Peep creation. This wreath will outlive us all. Magnificent.

As in all things in life, there are triumphs and there are tragedies. Buzz at Buzzkill had a will...just not a way to bring his Hidden Peep, Crouching Disaster to triumph. Peeps were harmed...

Anonymous Boxer stayed true to her boxing roots and gave us Pugilistic Peeps. There are many things about this that Amaze me, the least of which was that Boxer could resist eating the Red Vines long enough to get the picture. Vodka was harmed in the making of this...

MS, apparently still riding the Sugar High Pony, busted out a second Peeps creation. I'm not sure what sort of Peeps they sell in MS's world but when you start imaging mini marshmallows as some sort of Alien Peep eggs perhaps it's not Ripley you should be calling but the Peeps Hotline to talk your ass down. Game over man, game over!

La Diva at LaDiva Cucina gave us not one, not two, not even three Peep preparations but seven!! I bounce wildly between Deconstructed Peep, so reminiscent of Hung's cereal aisle diorama and the PLT, if only because the those little Peeps have to watch their own demise up close and personal.

Either way they were all outstanding.

Apparently this photo has caused some consternation among the Peep Nation. Since I tend to work under the modified theory of "You Keep What You Kill" or the Karmic Kitchen version, "You Eat What You Make" let me assure you, I did indeed try the Peep sushi. Once that decision was made there were either one of two photos showing up here, the half bite above or the spit out gob. Amazingly enough the caviar canceled out the sugar of the Peep. It's a sick sick world I live in. Still if you need further guidance in Peep Cooking, this flowchart should help.


If you're leery of messing with Peeps at all, this video won't help.