Warm Holiday Drinks: Hot Buttered Rum, and Tom & Jerry

Even though it doesn't exactly become a winter wonderland in Redwood City, California, it does get dark and rainy around these times. Which makes a nice hot drink a must-have for the holidays These two drinks are unusual in that they are made from a "batter". One then adds the alcohol, hot liquid, and stirs.

I've seen versions of hot buttered rum that floated a pat of butter on top, but honestly I don't see the appeal of drinking a separated layer of melted butter. The batter version uses less butter per drink and enough alcohol to hold the butter in solution so that the drink doesn't separate.

This recipe comes from Drinkboy.

This recipe makes a HUGE amount of batter, so I halved it.

Hot Buttered Rum

* 1 lbs Brown Sugar
* 1/4 lbs butter
* pinch of salt
* 1/4 tsp nutmeg
* 1/4 tsp cloves
* 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and strir together until well blended and creamy.

In a pre-heated coffee mug, drop in 1 heaping teaspoon of the above batter.
Add 2 ounces of Rum. (Bacardi Gold)
Top with Hot Water.
Stir well. Garnish with grated nutmeg, or dash of cinnamon.

The great thing is that if you keep a kettle of water on the stove on simmer, these drinks are incredibly easy to make. And even after halving the recipe and making quite a few during the party, I have plenty of the batter left over. The batter is just sugar and butter, so it will keep for a good long while in the fridge.

It's pouring outside, it's my first day off work for Christmas vacation, it's 3pm, and I'm having one right now. Mmm.


Tom and Jerry

The Tom and Jerry is rather like a hot egg nog. It's definitely a special occasion drink, as the batter does not keep very well. I believe that this one came to me through my friend Julian, who I think found this in the New York Times magazine. I cut this recipe by a third, which turned out to be enough for 10 drinks or so.

For the batter:

12 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 ounces Bacardi rum
4 dashes Agnostura bitters
2 pounds sugar (about 4/3 cups)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For service:

1 gallon whole milk
Rum (Bacardi Gold)
Brandy or Cognac (Raynal VSOP)

1. To make batter: seperate the egg yolks and whites and place in
separate bowls. Beat yolks slightly, then add vanilla, rum, bitters,
sugar and spices. In the other bowl beat egg whites until stiff.
Fold egg whites nto mixture until it has the consistency of pancake
batter. Batter may be made ahead of time but must be refrigerated
and used in the same day.

2. To serve: heat milk in saucepan or electric kettle to just before
boiling. While milk is warming, pour 2 ounces into a toddy mug (the
spices in the batter will settle at the bottom so stir the mixture
first) Then add 1 ounce rum and 1 ounce Cognac. Fill toddy mug with
boiling milk and stir. Dust with freshly grated nutmeg.