Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Baba Au Rhum
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the starter dough
In a small bowl, mix 4 oz of flour with a well in the center.
Add the yeast diluted with a little tepid milk and work to a smooth dough.
Cover and let rise in a warm place.
Make the main dough
In a large bowl, add the remaining flour, salt, and sugar.
Make a well in the center and add the eggs, melted butter, and a little milk.
Beat for 15 minutes.
Once the small dough has risen, combine it with the large mixture.
Knead for another 15 minutes, then add the tepid cream and currants.
Mix thoroughly.
Bake and serve
Prepare 6 to 8 small or 1 large well-buttered baba mold.
Sprinkle the bottom and sides with a few currants.
Let rise for 15 minutes in a warm place.
Bake in a moderately heated oven (350°F / 175°C).
When done, turn out onto a dish and baste with rum syrup while hot.
Serve hot with additional syrup.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the baba its structure.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during rising, making the dough light and airy.
- Eggs
- Add structure, richness and lift to the soft, enriched dough.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich crumb.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and gentle browning.
- Currants
- Add sweet, fruity pockets throughout the baked crumb.
The step that matters
Beating and kneading the dough. Long beating and kneading develop gluten so the dough can trap gas from the yeast. Under-working it leaves a dense baba that does not rise well or hold its shape.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, egg, cream, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, egg, cream, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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