#flavoured rum

The four of us are home together for Father's Day today. To celebrate this very special occasion, I baked this gorgeously fragrant and agreeably boozy Tropical Rum Baba --both my Dad and sister are very keen on this dessert!-- where the potency of Caribbean Rum is beautifully balanced by the fresh juiciness of a sweet mango! Happy Sunday!

Ingredients (makes 1):

220 grams/8 ounces strong white flour

50 grams/1.75 ounce caster sugar

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

½ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

¼ cup milk

100 grams/ 3.5 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup demerara sugar

2 heaped tablespoons pure local honey

1 cup Ginger and Lime Rum 

1 cup water

1 ripe mango

1 small lime

1 tablespoons pure Manuka Honey

1/2 cup double cream

In a large bowl, combine strong white flour, caster sugar, yeast and salt, making sure you don’t put the salt on top of the yeast, as it might kill it. Give a good stir; set aside.

In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs and the milk together until well-blended.

With a wooden spoon, gradually stir egg mixture into flour mixture, until a soft, sticky dough forms. Tip dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead, a good 10 minutes, until dough becomes smoother. Then, gradually knead in softened butter, until you have an elastic, shiny dough. Return to the bowl, and cover with a tea towel. Prove, one hour, or until doubled in size.

Generously butter a 20cm/8” baba tin.

Once proved, knock back the air, and spoon dough into a piping bag. Pipe dough prepared tin. Prove again, until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F.

Once the baba has risen, place in the middle of the warm oven, and bake, 25 to 30 minutes at 180°C/355°F, until a nice golden brown colour.

Whilst baba is baking, combine demerara sugar, honey, half of the Ginger and Lime Rum and water in a large saucepan, and heat over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar and honey have completely dissolved. Boil rapidly, a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in remaining Ginger and Lime Rum. Cover with a lid.

When the baba is baked, remove from the oven, and let cool, 15 minutes, before gently releasing from the tin. Then, carefully soak the sponge in the warm rum syrup, gently turning it to soak evenly. Gently lift out of the saucepan, and transfer to serving plate; set aside. Keep about 1/3 cup of the Ginger and Lime Rum syrup.

Let rum-soaked sponge cool at room temperature.

Halve, pit and dice mango. Place mango dices in a medium bowl. Thoroughly squeeze the juice of the whole lime over the mango dices, tossing to combine. Then, drizzle generously with honey and two tablespoons of the remaining Ginger and Lime Rum syrup, to coat and glaze.

In a medium bowl, beat double cream with an electric beater until soft peaks form. Add remaining cooled Ginger and Lime Rum syrup, and continue beating until stiff peaks just form.

This simple Rum and Lime Pineapple recipe beautifully enhances the juicy, sweet flesh of the fruit, making it a lovely dessert to end a meal! It may tastes even better if you're having it with a side of telly series set in the Caribbeans!

Ingredients (1 pineapple):

1 medium, ripe pineapple

a small lime

4 tablespoons Ginger and Lime Rum 

Peel and cut pineapple into thick slices. Remove the hard core of the pineapple slices with an apple corer.

Arrange pineapple slices onto serving plate. Generously grate the zest of the whole lime all over. Drizzle pineapple slices with Ginger and Lime Rum.

Chill, at least a couple of hours, in the refrigerator.

This Coconut Rum Rice, beautifully fragrant and delightfully fluffy, makes a tasty side to any Caribbean dish, meat or fish alike!

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 cups long grain white rice

2 tablespoons desiccated coconut

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/3 cup coconut flavoured rum (like Malibu)

2 cups water

Spoon rice in a rice cooker or saucepan. Add desiccated coconut and coarse sea salt; give a good stir. Stir in Coconut Flavoured Rum and water, and cook, according to rice cooker’s instructions or over medium heat, about 20 to 25 minutes, until all liquid is completely absorbed.

Although a very simple recipe, this Spiced Rum Rice makes all the difference and an excellent side to both meat and fish stews, Jerk Chicken or Grilled fish, for a true Caribbean feast!

Ingredients (serves 4):

3 cups long grain white rice

1 teaspoon Graines à Roussir

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 cup spiced rum, like this delicious Cardamom and Vanilla Rum

2 1/2 water

Spoon rice in a rice cooker or saucepan. Add Graines à Roussir and coarse sea salt; give a good stir. Stir in Cardamom and Vanilla Rum and water, and cook, according to rice cooker’s instruction or over medium heat, about 20 to 25 minutes, until all liquid is completely absorbed.

Today, we are celebrating Jules’ Birthday. This Mango and Passionfruit Rum Foie Gras, which I made for our Christmas Eve Dinner and which she loved, is a delicious way to start a festive meal -you do need a couple of days to make it, though! Happy Sunday!

Ingredients (serves 6 to 8):

500 grams/1.10 pound whole raw Grade A duck or goose foie gras at room temperature, cleaned and deveined

1 heaped tablespoon Passionfruit Jam

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

6 tablespoons Cardamom and Vanilla Rum

1 tablespoon Passionfruit Jam

a fresh mango

a lime

1 tablespoon Passionfruit Jam

Separate foie gras lobes and place them in a shallow dish.

In a small bowl, combine Passionfruit Jam, salt and black pepper. Stir in Cardamom and Vanilla Rum until well-blended. Pour mixture over the foie gras and gently rub onto the lobes. Place dish in the refrigerator, to marinate and infuse overnight.

The next day, place one of the foie gras lobe onto a sheet of cling film. Drizzle with a little of the remaining rum marinade. Spoon Passionfruit Jam generously on top. Place remaining foie gras lobe on top, pressing gently and rubbing the edges to seal. 

Roll very tightly into the cling film, into a round, “sausage” shape. Then, wrap into a second sheet of cling film and a sheet of foil.

Bring water to the boil in the pot of a steamer. Place steamer basket on top.

Place wrapped foie gras into the steamer basket, and cover with the lid. Cook, over simmering water (medium heat), 14 minutes. Remove the lid, and carefully turn the parcel on the other side. Close with the lid and steam, 14 minutes more. 

Carefully lift the foie gras parcel out of the steamer basket, and place onto a plate. Let cool, half an hour. Then, chill in the refrigerator, 8 to 10 hours.

Halve and peel mango, and cut into very thin slices. Spoon mango slices into a bowl, and squeeze the juice of the whole lime thoroughly over them; toss to coat. Set aside.

Once the foie gras has firmed up, carefully remove from its foil and cling film wrapping and place onto serving dish. Brush the top and sides of the terrine with half of the Passionfruit Jam, and gently press mango slices onto it, to wrap. Brush remaining Passionfruit Jam onto the mango, to glaze. Return to the refrigerator until serving time.

Jules and I realised we never had a Baba au Rhum before -that’s how varied French pâtisserie is; that we’ve never gotten to that classic yet. So, Pâtisserie Week under the Great British Bake Off Tent was our chance to have our first. I decided to make it with rum, because it was our first, so not a time for experimenting with flavours yet; and also, it’s Jules’ liquor of choice. That said, it could not be plain rum. Enter these gorgeous Caribbean Rum Babas, a taste of our Guadeloupe Summer holiday a few years ago, with fragrant Cardamom and Vanilla Rum and passionfruit! Jules said it might have become her favourite dessert!

Ingredients (makes 4):

220 grams/8 ounces strong white flour

50 grams/1.75 ounce caster sugar

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

100 grams/ 3.5 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup demerara sugar

1 cup Cardamom and Vanilla Rum

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup double cream

2 tablespoons Passionfruit Jam + more for garnish

4 thin slices of lime

In a large bowl, combine strong white flour, caster sugar, yeast and salt, making sure you don’t put the salt on top of the yeast, as it might kill it. Give a good stir; set aside.

In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs and the milk together until well-blended.

With a wooden spoon, gradually stir egg mixture into flour mixture, until a soft, sticky dough forms. Tip dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead, a good 10 minutes, until dough becomes smoother. Then, gradually knead in softened butter, until you have an elastic, shiny dough. Return to the bowl, and cover with a tea towel. Prove, one hour, or until doubled in size.

Once proved, knock back the air, and spoon dough into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe dough equally into 4 11cm/4 1/2″ (silicon) savarin moulds. Prove again, until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F. 

Once the babas have risen, place in the middle of the warm oven, and bake, 25 minutes at 180°C/355°F, until a nice golden brown colour. 

Whilst they’re baking, combine demerara sugar, 3/4 of the Cardamom and Vanilla Rum and water in a large saucepan, and heat over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Boil rapidly, a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in remaining Cardamom and Vanilla Rum. Cover with a lid.

When the babas are baked, remove from the oven, and let cool, 5 minutes, before gently releasing from the moulds. Then, soak the sponges in the warm Rum syrup, working with two at a time, and gently turning them to soak evenly. Gently lift out of the saucepan, transfer to a plate, and proceed likewise with two remaining babas. There should be no Rum syrup left when you’re done.

Chill sponges in the refrigerator, at least half an hour.

In a medium bowl, beat double cream with an electric beater until soft peaks form. Add Passionfruit Jam, and continue beating until stiff peaks just form. Spoon Passionfruit whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.

To serve, pipe Passionfruit whipped cream in the centre of cooled babas. Drizzle with Passionfruit Jam, and garnish with a slice of lime.

Last night, we watched the last episode of the ninth series of Death in Paradise, so, I had to make something special. I baked this Spicy Rum and Lime Cake, generously spread a layer of delicious Guava Jam I bought on the market in Saint-François during our Guadeloupean holiday; and enjoyed it even more when Detective Inspector Neville Parker announced -to Comissioner Patterson’s dismay!- he decided to stay in Paradise! It is quite a lovely cake, and I reckon it should be Saint-Marie’s speciality!

Ingredients (serves 4 to 8):

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 tablespoons demerara sugar

1 teaspoon Red Chili Flakes

1 large lime

3 whole eggs

2 tablespoons Cardamom and Vanilla Rum

3 large egg whites

a pinch of salt

3 heaped tablespoons guava jam

Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F. Butter a round cake tin. Set aside.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over a low flame. Remove from the heat; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, demerara sugar and Red Chili Flakes. Grate in the zest of about half the lime, and give a good stir. 

Dig a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and break in the eggs. Thoroughly squeeze in the juice of the whole lime, and add Cardamom and Vanilla Rum and melted butter. Give a good stir until just blended.

In another medium bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt, gradually increasing speed of electric beater, until stiff peaks just form.

Gently fold egg whites into the batter, with a rubber spatula, until no white specks remain.

Spoon batter carefully into prepared cake tin, and place in the middle of the hot oven. Bake, at 160°C/320°F, 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Once baked, remove from the oven, and let cool, 5 minutes or so, before removing from the tin. Let cool, about 10 minutes more, before carefully slicing the sponge in halves horizontally. 

Place bottom halve ofnto sering plate, and spread generously with guava jam. Sit top halve onto the jam.

Serve Spicy Rum and Lime Cake slightly warm or cooled, with a cuppa or a glass of rum!

Rhum Arrangé is a staple in the French Antilles, where the rum is best and the fruit and spices to flavour it offer endless possibilities. There are only two rules, really. The longer you wait, the more fragrant it will be. And, it has to be good quality rum. You’re not trying to mask a bad spirit with spices, you’re enhancing its taste. I’ve made my Cardamom and Vanilla Rum almost three years ago, when we returned from a heavenly fortnight in Guadeloupe, with our heads full of memories, and our suitcases full of rum and spices. It makes an excellent digestive after dinner, and is fantastic in a Dark ‘n’ Stormy! Happy Saturday!

Ingredients (makes 75 millilitres):

half a thumb-sized piece fresh ginger

1 long, plump vanilla bean

4 large cardamom pods

75 millilitres good quality (50%) white rum (like Guadeloupe's Damoiseau)

Peel ginger, and cut into small chunks. Place ginger chunks into a millilitre glass bottle. Split vanilla bean lengthwise, and place in the bottle. Crush cardamom pods, and add to the bottle as well. Cover with Damoiseau white rum.

Leave in a dark place, at least a couple of months, shaking the bottle regularly; but preferably a couple of years!