Babà al Rum

Combine flour, yeast, and caster sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add salt to one side of the bowl. Add the eggs and lukewarm milk, then mix on low speed for 3 minutes until a shaggy, sticky dough forms.

Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 8 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic, and pulling cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.

With the mixer running on medium-low, add the cold butter cubes one or two at a time, waiting until each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next — this should take 10–12 minutes in total. The finished dough will be very soft, glossy, and slightly sticky.

Grease 4 individual babà moulds (8–9 cm tall, savarin-style) thoroughly with butter. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions (roughly 110 g each), shape each into a smooth ball, and drop one into each mould — it should fill no more than one-third of the mould height.

Cover the moulds loosely with lightly oiled cling film and leave to prove at room temperature (22–24 °C) until the dough has risen to the rim of each mould and looks puffy and airy — approximately 1.5 to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 190 °C (170 °C fan / Gas 5). Remove the cling film and bake for 22–25 minutes until the babà are deep golden brown, have pulled away slightly from the sides, and sound hollow when tapped on the base.

Turn the babà out onto a wire rack set over a baking tray and leave to cool completely and dry out for at least 1 hour — a drier babà absorbs more syrup.

Make the rum syrup: combine water, caster sugar, orange zest strips, and cinnamon stick in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove the syrup from the heat. Stir in the rum, reserved orange juice, and vanilla extract. Let cool for 10 minutes until the syrup is hot but no longer boiling (around 70 °C).

Place the cooled babà into the hot syrup one at a time — they will hiss and begin absorbing immediately. Submerge each one, turning gently with a spoon, for 2–3 minutes until swollen, deeply saturated, and nearly doubled in size. Transfer to a deep dish and pour any remaining syrup over them.

Cover and refrigerate the soaked babà for a minimum of 4 hours, or overnight — the cold soak allows the syrup to fully redistribute to the centre.

Remove the babà from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. Brush each one generously with the warm sieved apricot jam to create a glossy, sticky glaze.

Whip the cold double cream with icing sugar and vanilla seeds to soft, billowing peaks. Serve each babà on a plate with a generous spoonful of cream alongside, and offer any remaining syrup at the table for guests who want theirs more generously soaked.