Food Network: Cranberry Baba Cakes

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Cranberry Baba Cakes
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Ingredients
1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped
1 cup orange liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier), optional
Melted butter, for brushing molds plus 4 tablespoons room temperature, cut into
small pieces
3/4 cup warm water
1 package yeast
1 tablespoon sugar, plus 2 cups for syrup
1 egg, room temperature
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon orange flower water
1/2 cup orange marmalade

Whipped cream, for serving

Instructions
Put the cranberries and orange liqueur (or 1 cup warm
water) into a small bowl and set aside. Brush 12 baba molds, a popover pan, or a
muffin tin with melted butter and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the water, yeast, sugar, and egg.
Using the paddle attachment, stir in the flour until incorporated. Mix on medium
speed for 6 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Add butter and mix
on medium speed until incorporated, about 2 to 3 minutes. Cover and let rise in a
warm spot for about 15 to 20 minutes, it just needs to rise a bit not double in
volume. Drain the cranberries (reserve the soaking liquid) and mix into the dough
with a spatula or wooden spoon. Fill the baba molds (or popover pan or muffin tin)

half full with batter. Let rise in a warm spot until the dough fills the molds,
about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake the babas for 20 to 25 minutes or until the tops are a deep golden brown.
Remove from molds, put babas onto a rack set over a sheet pan, and allow them to
cool completely.

Bring 2 cups sugar and 4 cups water to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and remove from
the heat; stir in the reserved soaking liquid and the orange flower water. Using
tongs or a spoon, place the babas, 1 at a time, into the sugar syrup. Hold them
under until the air bubbles stop coming out of the cakes, about 5 to 10 seconds.
Drain on the rack; you can recycle the syrup that accumulates in the sheet pan.

Warm the marmalade and brush it onto the tops of the babas. To serve, split open
and top with a generous dollop of freshly whipped cream.