Baby Rum Babas

I'm feeling all sassy munching on liquor flavored baby babas. Although they sound like a difficult, fancy dessert, they are surprisingly easy to make. Typically they are baked in forms about 2-inches tall. But these are smaller and bake perfectly in miniature muffin pans.

 You know what else is making me feel sassy? How about these new shoes?

Yeah, I know they're not your typical granny shoes. But if I'm going to fall and break a hip, I want to do it while wearing these shoes.

Ingriendents for Babas:
Melted butter and granulated sugar for muffin cups
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water, 105 to 115 degrees
1/4 cup lukwarm milk
5 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 larg eggs, at room emperature
2cups all-purose flour
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup currants

Ingredients for Rum Syrup:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
4-inch strip lemon zest
1/2 cup dark rum

Directions:
1. Butter and sugar 36 miniature muffin cups.

2. In a small bowl, combine the yeast and the warm water; let sit until yeast begins to foam (about 5 minutes). Stir in the milk, butter, sugar, lemon zest, and salt. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and add the yeast mixture. gradually beat in the flour, mixing until the batter is smooth. Stir in raisins an currants.

3. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Let rise, uncovered, in a warm place until almost doubled, 30-45 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. bake for 10-12 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of one baba comes out clean and dry. As the babas bake, prepare the Rum Syrup.

5. In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, water, and lemon zest to a boil. Boil about 6 minutes to make a thick syrup. Remove from heat and stir in the rum.

6. Loosen the hot babas from the muffin cups and place them in a rimmed pan. Spoon the prepared syrup over them until they are saturated. Serve immediately, or to store, cover babas in pan and refrigerate or freeze. Before serving, warm in a slow oven for a few minutes.Serve with whipped cream if desired.