Rum Baba

During my last day in the beautiful city of Naples, I had quite a bit of time to kill given the fact that I was supposed to board the train to my next destination only around midnight. A long and aimless walk around town brought me at the doorstep of the extremely popular and choc-a-block ‘Café Leopoldo’ right opposite the lively Piazza Carita. I have a major sweet tooth and since the menu was a baffling maze, I asked the waitress for a dessert recommendation. She guided me towards an item that was, to my amusement, called ‘Baba’ and suggested I go for a Nutella topping with the same.

The word baba has been overused and abused in India and for the longest time and I had images of imposters acting like God men clouding my brain. Hunger finally won the battle and I placed my order. I then got to feast my eyes on a rather tiny yeast cake that happened to be drenched in rum and then generously slathered with the world’s favourite chocolate-hazelnut spread. The first bite was weird more than anything else, it was as if I had eaten a piece of fried dough with a shot of alcohol but the flavour gradually started to grow on me. The aftertaste was much better; it lingered and made me want more. If in case you are not the biggest fan of Nutella (how is that even possible?), Baba also comes with a whipped cream topping. It’s certainly not the best dessert in the world, but not the worst either.