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Baba au Rhum de Martinique with Graham Crackers

Name: Baba au Rhum de Martinique with Graham Crackers
Yield: 4
Ingredients: Baba:; 0.25 cup milk; 0.50 tsp Tahitian Vanilla; kosher salt; 1.00 cup flour; 4.00 tbsp Charentes-Poitou Butter PDO; 2.00 tbsp sugar; 0.50 tsp Vosges Pine Honey PDO; 2.00 crushed honey graham crackers; 3.00 tbsp Syrup:; 2.00 c. water; 0.25 cup Martinique Rhum Agricole; Vanilla Chantilly:; 0.50 cup Isigny Crème Fraîche & Bresse Crème Fraîche PDO; 0.50 bean, scraped Tahitian Vanilla

By Benjamin Vaschetti, Chef

Let's make a new version of Baba au rhum (yeast cakes soaked in rum) but with honey maid Graham cracker crumbs. A few graham crackers crumbled into the pastry dough give this homey rhum baba a sweet and nutty flavor that compliments the heavy cream. For an over-the-top dessert, choose a Martinique Rhum, and pour it over the baba. We said over baba, only.

Ingredients For

Baba:
milk 0.25 cup
Sauces & condiments

Tahitian Vanilla

0.50 tsp See the article
kosher salt
flour 1 cup
Charentes-Poitou Butter PDO

4 tbsp See the article
sugar 2 tbsp
Sweet products

Vosges Pine Honey PDO

0.50 tsp See the article
honey graham crackers 2 crushed
Syrup: 3 tbsp
water 2 c.
Martinique Rhum Agricole

0.25 cup See the article
Vanilla Chantilly:
Isigny Crème Fraîche & Bresse Crème Fraîche PDO

0.50 cup See the article
Sauces & condiments

Tahitian Vanilla

0.50 bean, scraped See the article

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Preparation

Baba: Heat the milk and vanilla extract in a small saucepan over medium heat just until warm to the touch, about a min. Remove from the heat and stir in the yeast and salt to dissolve. Mix in ¼ c. of the flour a little at a time. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 30 mins; bubbles will start to appear.

Butter four 6-oz. baba molds or popover tins with 1 tbsp. of the butter. Then put the molds on a sheet pan.

Fit a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat the remaining 3 tbsp. butter on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down the sides and add the sugar, 2 tbsp. of the flour, honey, and lemon and orange zests and combine. Add the eggs one at a time on low speed and beat well, scraping down the sides as needed. Still on low speed, add the remaining flour until it’s well beaten. Add the yeast mixture and mix on low just until combined.

Divide the batter among the buttered molds, put in a warm place, and let double in volume, 30-60 mins. While the babas are rising, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place a cooling rack over a sheet pan.

Syrup: Meanwhile, mix the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and boil to dissolve, about 1 min. Remove from the heat and add the rhum.

Bake the babas until the tops turn a nice golden color, 15-20 mins. Remove from the oven, and then carefully remove them from the molds. Plunge the babas into the syrup, making sure they are well soaked, and then let them cool down on the prepared cooling rack.

Chantilly: Mix the scraped vanilla beans with the cream in a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip the cream to soft peaks and reserve in the refrigerator.

To finish: Heat the jam in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until runny. Then brush the cooled babas all over with the warm jam.

Cut the babas in half lengthwise and place on plates. Pour a tbsp. of rhum on each cut side and spoon the Chantilly in the center. Dust the crushed graham crackers over the Chantilly before serving.