Baba Au Bourbon

Name: Baba Au Bourbon
Ingredients: Babas:; softened unsalted butter, as needed for greasing the mold; 3 large (170 g) eggs, separated; 1/2 cup (99 g) granulated sugar, divided; 1/4 cup (57 g) whole milk; 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter; 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped; 1 1/4 cups (150 g) all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder; 1 teaspoon (4 g) instant yeast; 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) fine sea salt; zest of 1 orange; Soaking + Finishing; 3/4 cup (170 g) bourbon; 1/2 cup (113 g) water; 1/2 cup (106 g) dark brown sugar; zest and juice of 1 orange; 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped; 1 cinnamon stick; 4 cloves; apricot jam, as needed for finishing (optional); whipped cream, as needed for serving (not optional)

22 ingredients

1 steps

Ingredients

Babas:
softened unsalted butter, as needed for greasing the mold
3 large (170 g) eggs, separated
1/2 cup (99 g) granulated sugar, divided
1/4 cup (57 g) whole milk
3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
1 1/4 cups (150 g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
1 teaspoon (4 g) instant yeast
3/4 teaspoon (3 g) fine sea salt
zest of 1 orange
Soaking + Finishing
3/4 cup (170 g) bourbon
1/2 cup (113 g) water
1/2 cup (106 g) dark brown sugar
zest and juice of 1 orange
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
apricot jam, as needed for finishing (optional)
whipped cream, as needed for serving (not optional)

Directions

1

["Preheat the oven to 350\u00b0 F. Butter and flour the cavities of a popover pan (mine has 6 cavities; you could also use muffin cups, which will yield closer to 12 babas).", "Make the babas: In the bowl mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the egg yolks and 1/4 cup (half) of the sugar until it's pale and very thick (ribbon stage), 3-4 minutes. Set aside. You'll need the mixer bowl again later (clean) - so wash it quick now if you don't have a spare (or you can use a hand mixer + a regular bowl later).", "In a medium pot, heat the milk, butter, and vanilla bean scrapings until the butter is just melted; the milk shouldn't be too hot. Test it with your finger, it should feel warm, not hot. If it's hot, let it cool a bit before proceeding.", "Add the milk/butter mixture to the egg yolks and stir to combine. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, yeast, salt, orange zest to combine.", "Add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture and stir to combine.", "In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until they start to get frothy, 1-2 minutes. Slowly stream in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue to whip on medium high speed until the mixture reaches medium peaks, 2-3 minutes more.", "Add about 1/4 of the egg whites into the batter. Mix to combine; this will help \"temper\"" or lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites in 2 additions