Baba au rhum (rum baba), a soft yeast cake generously soaked in alcoholic syrup, is a classic French dessert. The story of this heady pastry begins with Stanislas Leszczynski, the Polish father-in-law of Louis XV who lived in Nancy. Formerly the king of Poland and then Duke of Lorraine, this lover of good food and spirits was particualrly fond of finishing his meals with kouglof, a small ring-shaped cake. One day, he demanded that this traditional brioche with candied fruits be drowned in tokaji (a Hungarian white wine) to make it more moist. To taste an authentic baba au tokay, there’s only one place to go: À la Table du Bon Roi Stanislas. This restaurant, which has purged rum from its premises (as tradition obliges), is a stone's throw from Place Stanislas.
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