Rum-Soaked Sponge Cake (Babà al Rum)
A featherlight Neapolitan yeast cake, baked until golden and then soaked through with a warm rum and lemon syrup until it's moist, boozy and glistening. Served with a dollop of softly whipped cream, it's one of the great desserts of southern Italy.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Make the soft dough
In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, crumbled yeast, eggs, warm milk, sugar and salt. Knead on medium speed for 8–10 minutes. The dough will be very soft and sticky, more like thick cake batter than bread dough — do not be tempted to add extra flour.
- 300 g bread flour
- 15 g fresh yeast
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp milk
- 40 g sugar
- 6 g salt
✅ Done when: the dough stretches thin without tearing and starts to look smooth and elastic
Work in the butter
With the mixer still running, add the very soft butter a few small cubes at a time, waiting for each addition to disappear into the dough before adding more. Keep kneading until the dough is glossy, elastic and pulls cleanly off the sides of the bowl, leaving it almost clean.
- 150 g soft butter
✅ Done when: the dough is smooth, shiny and stretches like elastic without breaking
Let it rise
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Shape and rise again
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Bake
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Make the syrup and soak
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Finish and serve
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Make the soft dough
In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, crumbled yeast, eggs, warm milk, sugar and salt. Knead on medium speed for 8–10 minutes. The dough will be very soft and sticky, more like thick cake batter than bread dough — do not be tempted to add extra flour.
- 300 g bread flour
- 15 g fresh yeast
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp milk
- 40 g sugar
- 6 g salt
✅ Done when: the dough stretches thin without tearing and starts to look smooth and elastic
Work in the butter
With the mixer still running, add the very soft butter a few small cubes at a time, waiting for each addition to disappear into the dough before adding more. Keep kneading until the dough is glossy, elastic and pulls cleanly off the sides of the bowl, leaving it almost clean.
- 150 g soft butter
✅ Done when: the dough is smooth, shiny and stretches like elastic without breaking
Let it rise
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Shape and rise again
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Bake
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Make the syrup and soak
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Finish and serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Babà is thought to trace back to a Polish yeasted cake soaked in alcohol, which travelled to France and was then refined by the French chefs ('monzù') who worked in the kitchens of Neapolitan noble households in the 1700s and 1800s. Naples took the idea and made it its own, swapping heavier spirits for rum and turning it into a soft, syrup-drenched little cake.
It became a fixture of Neapolitan pastry shops and Sunday tables, often paired with pastry cream or fruit for special occasions, though the simple version with just cream is the everyday classic.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Its impossibly light, airy crumb and generous soak of rum syrup make it feel indulgent and festive, while staying simple at heart — a true symbol of Neapolitan pastry-making.
💡 Fun Fact
In Neapolitan dialect, calling someone 'babà' is a term of endearment, a way of saying they're as sweet and lovable as the cake itself.
Naples, Campania
40.85°N, 14.27°E
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