A rum baba or baba au rhum is a small yeast cake saturated in liquor, usually rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream. It is most typically made in individual servings (about a 2" tall slightly tapered cylinder) but sometimes can be made in larger forms similar to those used for Bundt cakes.The batter for baba is even richer th
an that for brioche, and includes eggs, milk, and butter.

History

The original form of the baba was similar to the babka, a tall cylindrical yeast cake. The name means 'old woman' or 'grandmother' in the Slavic languages, and has nothing to do with Ali Baba; babka is a diminutive of the same word.

Baba was introduced into France in the 18th century via Alsace and Lorraine. Legends that Stanislas, the exiled king of Poland, had something to do with this are of dubious historicity.

The modern version, with dried fruit and soaking in rum, was probably a French innovation.The baba was later brought