Limoncello babas are delicious little Italian
pastries. The babas are made with a sweetened yeast dough and
are soaked with Limoncello syrup after baking. They can be served plain, with
whipped cream and fruit or sliced open and filled with gelato or ice cream.
Serving size will vary depending on the size of the
molds used. Special baba molds which measure about 2.5
inches in diameter and 3-4 inches deep are available and will yield about 12-15
babas with this recipe. You can also use a popover pan which is similar in size and
shape to the traditional baba molds and yields about 8 babas.
Ingredients:
Dough:
1 package (2 teaspoons) dry yeast
1/4 cup warm milk, 105 - 115
degrees F
2 tablespoons sugar, divided
2-1/4 cups flour
Pinch salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
4 ounces unsalted butter, room
temperature
Limoncello Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups water
Juice of 1 lemon
Directions:
To make the dough:
Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk
with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Set aside for 5-10 minutes until
the mixture starts to bubble. Transfer the yeast mixture to a mixing
bowl. Add the eggs and mix to incorporate. Add the flour, salt, and remaining
tablespoon of sugar. Mix to combine. Add the softened butter and mix
until the dough is smooth. The dough will be very sticky. Transfer the dough
to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap
and set aside to
rise for 1 hour.
Butter the baba molds. Stir down the
dough with a wooden spoon.
Fill each baba mold about 2/3 full of
dough.The dough will be very sticky to handle, so we
recommend using an ice cream scoop to transfer the dough to the
baba molds.Cover the molds with plastic wrap that has been coated with a non-stick
cooking spray. Allow the babas to rise until they have just formed a dome
over the tops of the molds, 15-20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
If you are using individual molds,
place them on a baking sheet for ease in
transferring them into the oven. Bake
the babas 15-20 minutes or until they are dark brown on top.
Turn them out of the molds and allow them to cool on a rack
for 10 minutes.
To make the syrup:
Put the sugar, water, and lemon juice
in a wide saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until the
sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat. Stir in the limoncello liqueur.
Set aside. After
the babas are removed from the oven and have cooled
for 10 minutes, place
them in a large bowl. Pour the warm syrup over the babas. Carefully rotate
them a few times in the syrup for about 5 minutes. The babas will soak
up most of the syrup. If you see
that the babas are getting too soft, remove them earlier.
Place the babas on a plate or wire rack to drain.
Babas are best served within a few hours
of baking but they can be stored for a day
or two. Serve them with some whipped cream and slices of fresh fruit or berries.
Cut the babas in half horizontally and fill with a scoop of gelato.
Source: http://mangiabenepasta.com