Book of Days Tales

On this date in 1808 the governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, 20 years to the day after Arthur Phillip founded a European settlement in Australia (celebrated now as Australia Day – or something else by indigenous peoples). Afterwards, the colony was ruled by the military, with the senior military officer stationed in Sydney acting as the Lieutenant-Governor of the colony until the arrival from Britain of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie as the new Governor at the beginning of 1810.

This mutiny against Bligh (not on HMS Bounty) is often called the Rum Rebellion, because one of the many complaints against Bligh was his mishandling and over-taxation of rum imports. Here’s a recipe for rum baba as an antidote:

Ingredients

120 gm plain flour
150 gm caster sugar
10 gm baking powder
50 gm melted butter
3 eggs (separated)
3 tbsp warm milk
dark rum

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 180° C/.

Cream egg yolks and sugar. Add the warm milk, melted butter, sifted flour and baking powder. Mix well.

Whisk egg whites till stiff, and gently fold into first batter.

Pour into individual buttered and floured cake molds.

Bake for about 15 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean). Leave to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Turn out the cakes and drench with rum.

For variety you can glaze the cakes with apricot preserves and/or add whipped cream.