朗姆糕,當蛋糕遇上酒

Each week, The Times’s crossword column, Wordplay, highlights the answer to one of the most difficult clues from the previous week’s puzzles.

每一週，時報的字謎專欄“詞玩”(Wordplay)都會呈現前一週字謎難度最高的線索的答案。

This week’s word: babas.

本週的詞是：babas（朗姆糕）。

“Baba au rhum” are rich, rum-flavored cakes that are largely popular in France and ItAly. Babas is the plural.

“巴巴朗姆蛋糕”(Baba au rhum)是一種口味濃郁的朗姆酒口味蛋糕，在法國和意大利廣受歡迎。“Babas”是複數形式。

The baba originated in France, and was supposedly inspired by the Polish king Stanislaw I, whose daughter, Marie, married King Louis XV. It is said that Stanislaw was partial to the Alsatian Gugelhupf cake, though he discovered that the dry dough tasted better when dipped in liquor.

朗姆糕起源於法國，據說靈感來源於波蘭國王斯坦尼斯拉夫一世(Stanislaw I)，他的女兒瑪麗嫁給了路易十五(Louis XV)。據稱，斯坦尼斯拉夫更偏愛阿爾薩斯人的咕咕霍夫蛋糕，不過他發現這種口感較乾的蛋糕蘸進酒裏的時候更好吃。

The Parisian baker Nicolas Stohrer went on to popularize this combination, and one of his descendants eventually established rum as the alcohol of choice. Stohrer’s patisserie is still around today.

巴黎麪包師尼古拉斯·施託雷爾(Nicolas Stohrer)讓這種組合流行了起來，他的一位後人後來選定了朗姆酒。如今人們仍能嚐到施託雷爾的法式糕點。

Babas have continued to be a staple of French baking, and the success of the cake has carried over to Italy and the United States. Babas are now often made with raisins in their dough, and they usually resemble Bundt cakes or doughnuts in shape. Variations may use sweet wine or liqueur in place of rum.

朗姆糕一直是法國烘培的主力，這種蛋糕的成功也傳到了意大利和美國。朗姆糕的糕體中現在經常會加入葡萄幹，通常外形酷似圓環蛋糕或甜甜圈。一些衍生的做法可能會用甜酒或烈酒來取代朗姆酒。