9

Olive oil spray, for greasing

Segments from 4 citrus

fruits, such as pomelo,

blood orange, orange

and grapefruit

BABÀ BATTER

210 gm plain flour, plus extra

for dusting

30 gm caster sugar

7 gm (about 1 sachet)

dried yeast

65 ml lukewarm milk

35 ml lukewarm pouring cream

2 eggs, lightly beaten

65 gm diced butter, softened

LIMONCELLO SYRUP

1 cup (loosely packed) lemon

verbena (fresh or dried; see

note), lightly crushed

30 gm caster sugar

700 ml limoncello

200 ml dry vermouth

Thinly peeled rind and

juice of 2 oranges

Peeled rind of 2 lemons

Limoncello babà with vanilla cream

MAKES 8 // PREP TIME 30 MINS // COOK 25 MINS(PLUS PROVING, INFUSING, SOAKING)

“Baba au rhum, a Neapolitan classic, is possibly my favourite dessert,” says Koludrovic.

“Booze-soaked brioche sponge served with vanilla cream – what’s not to love? This is

soaked in herbaceous limoncello syrup – serve it warm with segments of sharp citrus.”

VANILLA CREAM

200 ml pouring cream

150 ml thickened cream

10 gm pure icing sugar, sifted

Scraped seeds of

1 vanilla bean

1 For batter, mix flour, sugar

and ½ tsp salt in the bowl of

an electric mixer fitted with

the dough hook to combine.

Place yeast and 1 tbsp flour

mixture in a bowl, add warm

milk and cream, and whisk to

dissolve. With mixer on medium

speed, add eggs and yeast

mixture and knead until dough

is smooth and pulling away

from sides of bowl (5 minutes).

Add butter a piece at a time,

kneading until incorporated.

Cover batter with plastic wrap

and rest in a warm place until

doubled in size (30-45 minutes).

2 Preheat oven to 200°C.

Grease and flour 8 mini metal

1-cup bundt tins or dariole

moulds and place on a baking

tray. Knock back dough, divide

among moulds and rest in a

warm place until batter rises

above the top of moulds

(30-40 minutes). Cover moulds

with baking paper, place a

heavy baking tray on top and

weight with baking weights, rice

or dried beans to keep tops flat.

Bake for 6 minutes, then reduce

oven to 160°C, remove tray and

bake until golden brown (8-10

minutes). Remove babàs from

oven and cool in moulds.

3 For limoncello syrup, place

lemon verbena in a heatproof

bowl. Bring remaining

ingredients to the boil in a

saucepan with 100ml water.

Pour onto lemon verbena and

leave to infuse for 30 minutes.

Syrup will keep refrigerated

in an airtight container for

2 weeks.

4 For vanilla cream, whisk

ingredients to soft peaks

and refrigerate until needed.

5 Unmould babà, place in a

large bowl and pour warm (not

hot) syrup over (if syrup is too

hot the babàs will break down).

Soak for 8-12 minutes, then

spoon syrup over the top

occasionally until babàs are

completely soaked through.

Serve warm or cool topped with

vanilla cream, citrus segments

and with remaining syrup.

NoteLemon verbena is

available from select nurseries

and from online suppliers such

as herbcottage.com.au. Babàs

can be made in advance and

stored, unsoaked, in an airtight

container for three days or

frozen for up to three months.

Soak on the day of serving.

166 GOURMET TRAVELLER