Rum Baba with Chestnut Cream and Whipped Cream

What could be more regressive and delicious than a rum baba? Here it is combined with a chestnut cream and vanilla whipped cream… I like the amber side of rum, the earthy sweetness of chestnut and the warmth of vanilla. But it is possible to vary the flavours of the cream in all registers: sour, sweet…

Ingredients · Servings 2

200 g flour
5 g salt
15 g sugar
10 cl milk
10 g baker's yeast
2 eggs
50 g soft butter
80 cl water
500 g sugar
1 vanilla pod
20 cl brown rum
15 cl milk
150 g chestnut cream
1 tbsp cornstarch
50 g sugar
1 egg yolk
2 g gelatine
80 g butter
1 vanilla pod
30 cl high quality liquid cream cold
1 dash rum

Method · 2 h 55 min

In the vat of a mixer, mix the flour, salt and sugar.
In a saucepan, warm the milk (about 30°C/ 86 ℉, check, if you have a thermometer).
Add the yeast and stir to dissolve it. Pour this warm milk over the flour with 1 egg and mix at low speed. As soon as the dough is homogeneous, add the second egg.
Stop the mixer. Pour the melted butter over the dough. Leave, without stirring, at room temperature until the butter goes under the dough. At this point, stir again to incorporate the butter.
Fill the baba moulds with the dough and let them grow at room temperature, so that they double in volume. Preheat the oven to 170 °C/ 338 ℉ (th. 5-6). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
When they come out of the oven, remove the babas from the moulds, place them on a rack and leave them to cool.
Boil the water, sugar and vanilla bean for a few seconds.
Remove from the heat, leave to cool and then pour in the rum.
When the syrup is cold, place the babas in it to immerse them completely.
Leave them to soak for 2 hours in the refrigerator, then drain them on a rack.
In a saucepan, heat the milk with the chestnut cream and cornflour, stirring with a whisk.
In a salad bowl, mix the sugar and the egg yolk. Plunge the gelatine into cold water for 2 or 3 minutes.
When the chestnut milk boils, pour over the egg and sugar mixture.
Mix and then pour it back into the pan and cook like a custard, over a low heat and stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat, add the well-drained gelatine and leave to cool (to 40° C/ 104 ℉, if you have a thermometer).
Stir in the butter cut into small pieces. Immediately pour the cream into serving bowls and leave to set in the fridge for 2 hours.
Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise.
Scrape the inside of the half pods with a small knife to remove the small black seeds. In a salad bowl, beat the very cold cream and vanilla seeds with an electric mixer.
Place a little vanilla cream on the chestnut cream.
Place a drained baba on top, then drizzle with a dash of rum.
Serve immediately.

Recipe by Anne-Sophie Pic, legendary 3-Michelin starred French Chef. Anne-Sophie has recently launched her own cooking school where you can learn how to prepare haute cuisine dishes, creative pastries, and learn the ins and outs of wine tasting.