food & drink
dreamy desserts Tom McNeeney, from The Lancashire Hospitality Co, shares his latest cookery masterclass... "Few things on this earth give me as much joy as dessert. I've got an unashamedly sweet tooth and lockdown gave me a chance to make some lovely things at home that I never would normally get the time to, so I thought I'd share a few of them with you and help spread a little edible happiness."
Rum Babas When I think about food that makes me happy it will always be sitting in the window of Katsouri’s on Bury market with my mum, eating rum babas and watching the world go by. Nothing ever comes close. Ingredients: For the babas 125g strong white bread flour 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast 3 medium eggs 15g ginger syrup from a jar of stem ginger in syrup 80g unsalted butter, melted and at room temperature, plus extra For the syrup 300g caster sugar 100g stem ginger, 1 lime (juiced & zested) 600ml dark rum To finish 150ml double cream 50g caster sugar a handful of raspberries (freeze one per cake) 1 passionfruit 26 | Rochdale Style
So first we have to make the babas. Baking can be a bit daunting but this is really straightforward. I start by putting the flour and yeast in a mixing bowl with a large pinch of salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs a little with the ginger syrup, then pour this into the flour, whisking as you go, eventually it’ll form into a smooth mix. Keep going at it for a few minutes, then pour in the melted butter and beat to a smooth batter. Pour the mix into a whatever kind of shaped, greased baking tray you have (I used a muffin tray but a cupcake or fancier one will work too). Cover loosely with cling film and shove them somewhere warm to rise for 45 minutes they’ll double in size, hopefully. Add all the syrup ingredients (apart from the lime zest) into a pan, bring to the boil, then simmer on a lowish heat for about 15 minutes till you have a light syrup. Take it off the heat, add the lime zest and let it cool, then strain into a large bowl.
Whack your oven to 200°C. Pop the babas in the oven and bake for 5 minutes, turn it down to 160°C and cook for 10 minutes - you’re looking for risen and golden. Take them out and let them cool. Carefully help your babas out of the tray and pop them all in the syrup bowl. Give them a shift about every few minutes so they are all good and rummy from every angle, takes about 10 minutes. While they’re soaking, whisk your double cream and caster sugar in a bowl until thick and sweet, smash some raspberries up with the back of a fork and carefully fold through the cream for a sort of raspberry ripple affair. Pop each baba in a bowl, spoon over any extra syrup and top with a spoonful of your raspberry ripple cream, cut the passionfruit in half and scoop some of the seeds on top. Get your frozen raspberries out of the freezer and squeeze them between your fingers until they explode over each baba so you look like you know exactly what you’re doing.
