Serves 10 to 12
• 1 package dry yeast
• ⅔ cup warm milk
• ½ cup + 1 Tbs. sugar
• 2¼ cups flour
• 4 eggs
• pinch of salt
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp. almond extract
• ½ cup soft butter
• grated rind of 1 lemon
• ½ cup seedless raisins
• rum sauce
• ¾ cup water
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• ½ – ⅔ cup dark rum
Garnish
• light sweetened whipped cream
• several glacéed cherry halves (optional)
1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk, stir in 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 cup of flour. Put this sponge in a medium-sized bowl, cover it with a light towel, and leave it in a warm place to rise for about half an hour, or until it has puffed up to nearly twice its original size.
2. Beat the eggs lightly with the remaining sugar. Add the salt, vanilla and almond extracts, and the remaining flour, and beat vigorously until the batter is perfectly smooth. Add the sponge and beat vigorously again, either by hand with a wooden spoon, or with a strong electric mixer, until the batter is smooth and elastic, and beginning to blister.
3. Cover the bowl with a light towel and leave the batter in a warm place to rise until it has doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes to an hour. Stir the batter down, add the softened butter, and beat vigorously once more until the butter is completely incorporated and the batter is glossy and elastic. It will be quite soft, and should fall away easily from the spoon and the sides of the bowl.
4. Stir in the grated lemon rind and the raisins. Butter a medium-large ring mold and dust it with very fine dry breadcrumbs. Pour the batter into the mold: the batter should fill about half the mold at this point. Cover it with a light towel and let it rise in a warm place for half an hour.
5. Put the mold gently into a preheated 400 degree oven. After 5 minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake 30 to 40 minutes more, or until the cake tests done.
6. Make the rum sauce: combine the water, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and boil for 10 minutes. Let the syrup cool to lukewarm, then add the rum.
7. When the cake is done, tip it delicately out of the mold onto a cake rack and let it cool to lukewarm, then put it back into its mold. Pierce the top of the baba carefully in about a dozen places, either with a thin skewer or the point of a very sharp knife. Spoon the rum sauce over the cake gradually, letting some of it seep in where the top was pierced, and some of it run down the sides and center. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and leave to ripen for several hours.
8. Turn the baba out on a platter and let it rest in that position for about half an hour before serving. Decorate it with glacéed cherry halves if desired. Garnish each serving with a large dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream
