The visit to Giovanni Scaturchio was worth the travel, although not for the gelato. This coffee shop understands the nuances of quality and they some of the best pastry in Naples. More specifically “il Baba” known in France as Baba-au-Rhum, some say it was introduced to France by a Polish King.

The History as we tell it: The relation of Paris and Naples arose from rivalry when Marie Antoinette was given in marriage to dauphin and later king of France Louis XVI, and her sister Maria Carolina married king Ferdinand of Naples. To be more exact, the rivalry came from Maria Carolina who, being envious of her sister, and found out about the French court chefs novelties and cultivated luxury in her circle in every way possible.

So in Italy an epoch of new cuisine began, the epoch of fashion of gâteau, pâté, gratin, choux and other French specialties. Obviously, the baba was found among the fashionable culinary novelties, except that the definition “French” in respect of this desert very soon ceased to be relevant.

As early as in 1836, in the first Italian cookbook written by Angeletti for Maria Louisa of Parma, Babba al rhum was described as a traditional Neapolitan dessert.

There it is.

http://www.scaturchio.it/pasticceria-baba.htm