AI-generated illustration
Lorraine
Stanislas Leszczynski, exiled King of Poland and Duke of Lorraine, had fragile teeth and a kouglof that was too dry. His pastry chef had the idea of soaking it in Tokay wine. He had just invented the most copiously soaked dessert in the history of France.
Pastry or bakery speciality from Lorraine.
AI-generated illustration
The story of the baba au rhum begins in Lunéville, in Lorraine, at the start of the 18th century. Stanislas Leszczynski, the ousted King of Poland and father-in-law to King Louis XV of France, received the Duchy of Lorraine in compensation, which he would govern from 1737 to 1766. Installed at the court in Lunéville, he was renowned for his appetite and his love of good food, but his damaged teeth made it difficult to enjoy the dry cakes he was so fond of, notably Alsatian kouglof and the Polish pastries of his childhood.
The Polish king was more than a mere lover of good food: he was a veritable glutton. He ate quickly and he ate a lot, so much so that his plump silhouette became legendary — the equestrian statue adorning place Stanislas in Nancy, in fact, slightly "slimmed" him down compared to historical reality. Towards the end of his life (he died at 89), old age made his culinary experience more complicated still. Not only did he have poor eyesight — his footmen, to please him during fishing trips on the Vezouze, would slip discreetly into the river to hook a few fish onto his line and lead him to believe he was a great angler — but he had practically no teeth left.
His personal pastry chef, Nicolas Stohrer, originally from Alsace (Wissembourg), found the solution: he doused the cake in Tokay wine, which the previous Duke of Lorraine used to have delivered to him every year in a cask. This precious wine was so strictly reserved for the king that it was kept in a secluded room — the Swiss guards' room — from which, in fact, comes the French expression "boire en Suisse" (to drink alone in one's corner), perfectly describing the habits of the elderly Stanislas. Soaked in this nectar, the soft, fragrant cake immediately won the duke over. Stanislas, a keen lover of literature, gave it the name "baba" — in reference to Ali Baba, a character from the One Thousand and One Nights that he was reading at that time — or according to other sources, from the Polish word babka, denoting a brioche shaped like a grandmother's pleated skirt.
AI-generated illustration
When Stanislas's daughter, Marie Leszczynska, married King Louis XV in 1725, Nicolas Stohrer followed her to Versailles as royal pastry chef. He subsequently opened his own pâtisserie on rue Montorgueil in Paris in 1730 — the oldest pâtisserie in Paris still in business today. It was a descendant of Stohrer who, at the beginning of the 19th century, replaced the original sweet wine — which had become difficult to procure — with rum from the West Indies, then abundant in Paris thanks to colonial trade. This change was strategic: rum was far less expensive than the wine it replaced, which allowed the baba to become accessible to the middle and bourgeois classes. The baba au rhum as we know it today was born.
The baba au rhum is universally known, but its Lorraine origins are often overlooked. It is more readily associated with Paris or Naples (where the babà has become a symbol of Neapolitan pastry, soaked in limoncello or rum). Yet it was indeed in the kitchens of Stanislas Leszczynski's pastry chef that the seminal act took place. Nancy and Lorraine proudly claim this parentage, and several Nancy pastry chefs offer exceptional versions — notably the baba au vin de Tokay, which evokes Stohrer's original recipe.
Light cylinder- or mushroom-shaped brioche, soaked to saturation with an amber rum syrup. The most widespread, served with crème chantilly or crème pâtissière.
Soaked in Hungarian Tokay wine, as in Stohrer's recipe for Stanislas. Less sweet, more complex, with a unique honeyed and oxidative note. Offered by a few specialist establishments in Nancy.
A contemporary Lorraine speciality: the rum is replaced by Mirabelle de Lorraine PGI (IGP) eau-de-vie. A perfect terroir pairing, with a characteristic floral and fruity aroma.
Appearance
Cylindrical or crown-shaped cake (savarin), golden-brown in colour, saturated with glossy syrup. The chantilly or cream creates a white contrast against the amber brown.
Aroma
Powerful rum, notes of buttery brioche, vanilla, a hint of caramel. In the mirabelle version, a fruity and floral aroma.
Taste
Sweet and spirited on the attack, melting and juicy on the palate thanks to the syrup. The soaked brioche literally melts away, releasing its aromas throughout the tasting.
Texture
Extremely soft, almost liquid in places, the crumb saturated with syrup yields gently under the spoon.
AI-generated illustration
The art of savouring a baba:
Baba au rhum is not protected by any geographical indication, neither in France nor in Italy (where the Neapolitan babà is just as famous). Its Lorraine origins are historically documented but unprotected.
Artisan — Family-run
Prestigious house
Get listed and reach more lovers of regional produce.
Request a listing