I can still get them from several of my local bakeries, and we also have a specialist chocolate company in the area that makes similar! Unfortunately they no longer contain Rum, just a Rum flavouring. I also make them for myself (very rarely), but these do include Rum. I made some at Christmas, along with some very alcoholic Brandy truffles and Rum Truffles (some coated in dessicated coconut to resemble snowballs), and gave them out to my friends, family and colleagues as Christmas presents!
I do remember Coopers - Oh the aromas! I have had rum babas there and they were heaven. Isnt it funny how you dont remember that you havent seen something for ages until someone mentions it?
Oh they were gorgeous, i had forgotten they ever existed, havent seen them for so many yeaars. They were a bit sickly, very sticky - but yummy, quite exotic really! Hyacinth will ermeber this shop, maybe others too - years ago there used to be a shop in Liverpool called Coopers, you could smell the wonderful coffee aroma all over Church St where it was, now a branch of WH Smith. As far as i know, that was the only place you could get a rum baba...maybe Selfridges food dept, Harrods food Hall, those sort of places, Fortnum and mason?have you tried Googling? hope you have some luck!
Because they contained booze, some 'Elf and Safety bod decreed that they could not be sold without a liquor licence so they were taken off the shelves about 6 years ago. Shame! because the texture was so moist and grainy. the nearest you could get to this texture, I suppose, are those greek honey cakes - not baklava - but those pieces of cake steeped in honey. if you wanted to, you could buy these and pour rum over them and make a sort of greek rum baba.
Food