Mainly for creating feasts of a similar magnitude…
She opened with a turtle soup and a light aperitif. Not my particular favorite starter, but a nice rich broth-y soup to whet the appetite.
Next, she served Blinis Demidoff with a classic champagne. Yes, please!
I believe the next course was her centerpiece, the Caille en Sarcophage. And the Clos Jouveau (mental note to find that out, for knowledge’s sake - I do know that young Erik calls it Clo Juvo in the subtitles).
She cleansed the palates with a light salad. The quick glances we see seem to have endive and other lettuces and possible walnuts on top.
Then the cheeses and some water to clear out the tastes.
She finishes with a lovely cake Baba au Rhum dressed with cream, liqueur and fruit as well as a large and significant fruit tray.
Finally, coffee and a port (?) to finish.
Debra Ollivier has assembled some recipes for a couple of the dishes which I will add below:
Blinis Demidoff
Olllivier takes her recipe from Chicago’s Theater Oobleck (included in Entre Nous, see link above). In the movie, Babette definitely tops her blinis with caviar, creme fraiche and chopped onion. Blini at your own risk.
Baba au Rhum
1 package yeast
1/3 cup warm milk
2 1/3 cups sifted flour
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 2/3 cups sugar
6 eggs
5 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup dark rum
candied fruits or thinly sliced almonds for decoration
Dissolve yeast in milk in a large bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup of the flour, cover, and set aside in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.
Beat 7 tablespoons of the butter in a food processor (or equivalent, as I do believe Babette did not have a Cusinart in Denmark). Add two tablespoons of the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the flour. Then beat in the eggs one at a time.
Beat remaining flour into the risen yeast mixture; then beat in the butter and egg mixture to form a thick , doughy batter. Butter a large baba or Savrin mold (modern day: Bundt pan) with a tablespoon of butter, then spoon batter into the mold. Cover with a clean cloth and set aside to rise until dough reaches the top of the mold.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake baba for 40 minutes until golden brown on top.
Meanwhile, combine remaining sugar and water in a saucepan and boil until syrupy and reduce to about 3 cups. Remove from heat and stir in rum.
After baba is removed from the oven, spoon warm rum syrup over it entirely, allowing it to saturate the cake completely.
Let cake cool and then unmold and decorate with fruits or nuts.
Serves about 8.
…..Now if only I had a Bundt pan!
