Baba au Rhum

These little things are addictive and tasty. They are yeast cakes, soaked with rum syrup, topped with vanilla bean whipped cream, and a rum soaked cherry.

Rum syrup

In a saucepan put 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water.
Add 1 cinnamon stick and 5 whole cloves
Lemon zest and 1T lemon juice. Heat. Take off heat, add 1 cup dark rum and 1T vanilla extract. Cool.

Take 1/4 of a can of tart cherries, add rum to them and some red food coloring. Let them soak for at least 1 hour.

Yeast dough

In a measuring cup heat 1/2 cup whole milk to warm, not hot. In the milk stir in 7g active dry yeast and 2T sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes.
In a mixing bowl add 2 eggs. Mix. add 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour, 1/2t salt. 5T soft butter, 1T rum and 1T lemon zest. Mix for 5 minutes. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

The dough will fill 7 small ramekins, so butter them well.

When the dough has more than doubled scoop it into the ramekins half way. Let rise in the ramekins till they have risen to the top of the ramekin. Bake about 15 minutes till tops are golden in a 350F oven.

When ramekins are still hot with a sharp knife loosen the sides and tip upside-down. Let cool.

Whip 1 cup heavy cream, with 1T powdered sugar and scrape out half of 1 vanilla bean. Whisk till peaks are stiff, but not overly. Put into a piping bag.

Take the cooled cakes and soak them in the cooled syrup. The top of the cake is now what was the bottom when baking. Put 2T apricot jam in a pan and add 1T water, heat. Brush the outside of the cakes. Pipe whipped cream on top. Decorate with one cherry per cake that has been soaked in rum.