 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
The New York Times - July 10, 2002
It wasn’t that I was surprised to see babas in a pastry shop in Minori, in Salerno on the Amalfi coast of Italy. Ever since I stepped off the plane in Naples, babas were omnipresent: on menus at every little café; packed in dusty jars lining the shelves in touristy shops along the beaches; even mixed into gelato. Babas, it seemed, were as ubiquitous in Campanian pastry shops as molten chocolate cakes in New York City restaurants.
It was the syrup the babas were soaking in that intrigued me. Instead of the usual dousing in rum, these babas were saturated in limoncello. True it was unusual, but it made sense given the context.
The Amalfi coast is justly famous for their particularly fragrant lemons, which come in several shapes, sizes, and colors. A drive along the sea reveals acres and acres of sloping lemon groves, the trees covered in black nets to filter out the strong sunlight. While most of the lemons are shipped around Italy and beyond, commanding premium prices, many others are made into limoncello, a sugary, greenish-yellow liqueur.
Both babas and limoncello have been local staples for decades, but putting them together, it seems, is a fairly recent phenomenon.
“Traditionally, if you went into a cafe you’d see a bunch of old guys ordering pieces of plain cake and pouring shots of limoncello over the top,” said Arthur Schwartz, the radio show host and author of Naples at Table (HarperCollins, 1998). But, he added, “babas soaked in limoncello is a new thing, though perfectly natural for the Campanians.”
Although most Americans associate babas with the French, they are arguably even more popular in southern Italy, where they probably date back to the 18th century. This is when Marie Antoinette’s sister Maria Carolina married King Ferdinand of Naples, said Mr. Schwartz, and there was much cultural and culinary exchange between the kingdoms.
Rum had always been part of the baba-equation—until now. Limoncello, it seems, is quickly edging it out.
“Limoncello is getting really popular, it’s trendy all over Italy,” said Amelia Adams, a marketing sales consultant specializing in Italian products. “People from the north go to the south for vacation and bring it back. They develop a taste for it.”
They’ve also developed a taste for babas in limoncello. All but supplanting those jars of babas in rum, jars of babas in limoncello, I discovered as I traveled up the boot, are not just sold in Salerno, or even in the South. They were there when I got to Rome, at a tiny grocery store near the Spanish Steps. Cafes displayed them in Verona. Even supermarkets carried them in Venice. A trend, indeed.
And a good one. Compared to those packed in rum, babas in linmoncello are more perfumed and generally less sweet, with a welcomed tartness from lemon zest. The best brands, I discovered after much sampling, use artisanal limoncello made from the hand-peeled zest of small, gnarly, green-skinned lemons with an intense and lingering scent. Although it’s still hard to find babas packed in limoncello in New York, it’s getting easier. Several of the distributors I spoke to plan on importing it. BuonItalia, at the Chelsea Market, already does (212- 633-9090, $11.50 for a 730-gram jar).
You can also make it yourself. One recipe I found is from Felidia restaurant. Lidia Bastianich used to have a Delizia al Limone on the menu, a dessert combining limoncello and sponge cake. But the executive chef of the restaurant, Fortunato Nicotra, recently changed it to a baba with limoncello and a rich lemon cream.
Did he do it because it’s trendy?
“The baba soaks up the limoncello syrup really well and is very light,” he said, adding, “there are times that trends happen for a good reason. This is one of them.”
Baba Limoncello with Lemon Cream
Adapted from Felidia Restaurant
Time: 2 1/2 hours, plus cooling
For the babas:
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted unsalted butter, plus additional for tins
1/2 cup milk
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons bread flour
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the lemon cream:
1 cup milk
5 tablespoons sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
Limoncello syrup:
Grated zest of 10 lemons
3/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons limoncello (recipe below)
1. Butter a 12-cavity muffin tin and set aside. To prepare the babas, in a saucepan over low heat, gently warm the milk. Pour it into the bowl of an electric mixer or other large bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Stir until the yeast dissolves. Whisk in 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons of the flour and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until the mixture has doubled, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Using an electric mixer set with the paddle attachment or a food processor fitted with the dough blade, beat the eggs, sugar, salt, and the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour into the yeast mixture until very smooth. Gradually mix in the melted butter and continue to mix until smooth.
3. Spoon the dough into the muffin tin, filling each cavity halfway. Grease a piece of plastic wrap and cover the muffin tin. Let rise until the dough has risen just above the level of the muffin tin, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the babas until they are dark golden brown on top and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped, about 20 minutes. Transfer the tin to a wire rack to cool.
5. To prepare the lemon cream, in a saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the lemon zest and salt to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
6. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, the egg and yolk. Whisking constantly, pour the hot milk mixture gradually into the egg mixture. Whisk to combine, then transfer the mixture back to the saucepan.
7. Warm the liquid over medium low heat, whisking constantly, being sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the saucepan. As soon as the liquid reaches a boil, take the saucepan off the heat. Whisk in the butter, a tablespoon at a time. Transfer the mixture to a shallow bowl and lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the lemon cream. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 2 hours.
8. To prepare the syrup, in a saucepan, combine the lemon zest, 2 cups water and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer until the liquid is yellow, about 2 to 3 minutes. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a bowl. Stir in the limoncello. Let cool.
9. Just before serving, whip the heavy cream until it forms soft (not stiff) peaks. Whisk the chilled lemon cream well to loosed it, then gently fold in the whipped cream.
10. Slice the babas in half vertically. Submerge each baba in the limoncello syrup for 10 seconds. Arrange the babas on plates cut sides up, and drizzle them with some more of the syrup. Top the babas with large dollops of lemon cream and serve immediately.
Yield: 12 servings
Limoncello
Adapted from Lemon Zest by Lori Longbotham (Broadway Books 2002)
Time: 30 minutes, plus 15 days resting
6 lemons
One 750-milliliter bottle vodka (preferably 100-proof)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the lemons, being careful not to include any of the white pith. Put it in a half-gallon jar with a tight-fitting lid and add the vodka. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 10 days, or until the zest is pale and the vodka is a deep yellow.
2. Strain the liquid into a large glass bowl or measuring cup, leaving the zest in the strainer.
3. In a saucepan, bring 3 cups of water and the sugar to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Boil for 3 minutes. Pour the hot sugar syrup over the zest in the strainer, into a heatproof bowl and discard the zest. Let cool.
4. Add the syrup to the vodka. Pour the liqueur into bottles with tight-fitting lids. Let stand for 5 days. Store in the freezer.
Yield: 2 bottles