The sugar level content of this famous Naples dessert clearly betrays its Arabic origins and the lemons of the Amalfi coast give it a flavour all of its own.

Making it at home could be a huge disappointment, but there's no excuse for not giving it a go.

The image of the rum babas (right) was taken by Delicious Italy at a delightful pasticceria in the town of Marina di Camerota, province of Salerno.

The owners explained to us how they had moved from Naples some years ago to live in this resort town along the Cilento coast.

ingredients

350gr white flour, 150gr sugar, 4 eggs, 100gr butter, 30gr yeast, milk, lemon, rum, salt

making it

Dissolve the yeast in a little water. Add 50gr flour and form a paste.

Cover the mixture with a cloth and let it rise for at least an hour.

Pour the rest of the flour onto a rolling board and prepare a pastry with the eggs, 100g sugar, 4 spoonfuls of milk, a pinch of salt and the yeast mixture above.

Knead the pastry well.

When done place the pastry in a classic Rum Babà shaped dish lined with butter.

Cover with a dishcloth and again let the pastry rise for another hour.

In a pan melt 50g gram of sugar in half a cup of water.

Before it starts to change color, remove from the heat and add to the mixture a glass of rum and lemon juice.

Pour this sweet over the cooked Rum Babà.

Serve cold.