captain morgan’s spiced rum

A few Christmases ago I made a delicious Colonial Hot Buttered Rum recipe that I found on Allrecipes.com. It was so simple (you make it in the slow cooker!) and SO delicious! I served it at my family Christmas dinner and everyone raved about it.

I decided that I wanted to make it again today – it’s Saturday and it’s cold, why not? 😉 I changed it up just a bit though and I am in love with the results! This recipe was awesome before but when you swap out half of the rum for RumChata…

This is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!! I could sit and drink this all day. It warms you up from the inside and the flavor stays on your lips (if you’re into buttered rum kisses).

Hot Buttered RumChata (adapted from Colonial Hot Buttered Rum submitted to Allrecipes.com by Linda Correia)

Ingredients

2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter
1 pinch of salt
8 cups of hot water
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
1 cup of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum
1 cup of RumChata
Whipped cream and ground nutmeg for garnish (if desired)

Directions

1. Combine the brown sugar, butter, salt and hot water in a 5 quart (or larger) slow cooker. Add cinnamon sticks and cloves.
2. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.
3. Stir in the Spiced Rum and the RumChata.
4. Ladle into mugs (or awesome cups like the ones shown in the photo from SucreShop), top with whipped cream and ground nutmeg.

*** A note on RumChata curdling: Several commenters have said that they had trouble with the RumChata curdling when added to the hot butter/water mixture. I did not encounter this issue but I have done a little research and think it may be due to temperature. RumChata does contain dairy, which can curdle when added to very hot liquid. My RumChata had not been in the refrigerator (once opened it can be stored at room temperature for six months) and my low setting on my slow cooker doesn’t get super hot. If you are using RumChata that has been in the refrigerator I’d suggest measuring it out and letting it warm up to room temperature. If your water/butter mixture is boiling hot, let it cool some before adding the RumChata. You can also temper the RumChata first by measuring it into a bowl or cup, and then bit by bit pour some of the butter/water mixture into the RumChata, effectively bringing it up to the same temperature before adding it to the slow cooker. A last note – if you have been storing your RumChata at room temperature and it is much older than 6 months it may just be on the verge of going bad. ***

Makes 8 servings.

This recipe can easily be scaled down to make fewer servings. I made half a batch tonight but I wish I had made more! It takes just a few minutes to throw together and once it’s done you can just keep it warm in the slow cooker until every last drop is gone. It’s a perfect drink for Christmas, a New Year’s Eve party or any random winter weekend!

Cheers folks!

I LOVE goat cheese. My grocery store sells little logs of the tangy cheese flavored with all kinds of wonderful things – honey, fig, blueberry. One of my favorites is the goat cheese rolled in rum raisins. Give me that and a package of water crackers and I’ve got ~~dinner~~ a very lovely snack. So when I saw that this month’s Spiked Recipe Challenge ingredient was spiced rum, I knew I wanted to make something with goat cheese and rum raisins. But what???

This was the very first cheesecake I have ever made and it is definitely a keeper! It has that added tang from the goat cheese that I just love, and the Biscoff cookie crust is to die for… but more on the ingredients later! First let me say – there are SO many opinions on cheesecake! Butter in the crust, no butter in the crust, egg whites, no egg whites, water bath, no water bath, bake, no bake, remove from the oven, leave in the oven to cool. My head was spinning trying to figure out how to make this darn thing!

I started off by looking for a recipe that sounded tasty yet relatively simple. I found one on Oprah.com of all places. After a few ingredient swaps I was ready to bake. I decided to do the whole water bath thing since so many people seemed adamant about it. No, you do not dunk your cheesecake in the tub. You are supposed to wrap the outside of the springform pan in tinfoil, place the pan with cheesecake filling in a larger pan, fill the larger pan with water (boiling, not boiling. I went with boiling.) about halfway up the springform pan and THEN carefully put the whole setup in the oven. . All this is supposed to prevent your cheesecake from cracking on top. Mine did not crack, but whether is was due to the water bath or just my mad cheesecake baking skills we will never know.

After letting my cheesecake chill in the fridge overnight I made my rum raisin compote. Then it was time to plate and photograph.Just one minor problem… my cheesecake was stuck to the bottom of the pan!! I had sprayed it with baking spray but apparently that was pointless. My previously crack-less cheesecake was turning into the Grand Canyon as I tried in vain to lift it off the pan bottom. A quick internet search let me know that I should have covered the bottom of the pan in parchment paper first. WHERE was this info in all of my previous cheesecake research?!

Luckily I was able to get a few nice pieces out of the cheesecake. The rest isn’t pretty but it doesn’t really matter because it’s damn delicious!

Goat Cheese Cheesecake (adapted from Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Spiced Cherry Topping on Oprah.com)

Ingredients

1 stick butter
1 3/4 cups Biscoff cookie crumbs (I just put a bunch of cookies in a plastic bag and crushed them with my rolling pin)
3 – 8 oz packages cream cheese at room temperature
8 oz goat cheese at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp all purpose flour
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (that’s where all the little flecks you see in the pictures come from; it’s not dirt – I promise) You can use vanilla extract if you do not have the paste.

Directions

Crust: Preheat oven to 325°. Melt butter; then mix it with Biscoff cookie crumbs. Press crust into the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan (or try the lining it with parchment paper trick!). Bake for 10 minutes.

Filling: Combine cream cheese, goat cheese, and sugar in the bowl of a mixer using a paddle attachment. Blend on low speed until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl; add flour. Mix until flour is thoroughly incorporated. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down sides of bowl between additions. Add vanilla; mix until incorporated.

Remove crust from oven and pour in filling. Smooth top with a small knife or spatula. (Now is the time to put together your water bath if that’s the route you are taking). Bake cake until edges are slightly cracked and center is jiggly, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; set pan on a wire rack until it cools to room temperature, then remove sides of pan. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.

Rum Raisin Compote

Ingredients

1 cup spiced rum (I used Captain Morgan’s)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup golden raisins
1 cup regular raisins
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1 tbsp cornstarch and 1 tbsp water (optional)

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients except the cornstarch and water in a small saucepan and bring to a low boil. Boil until raisins plump and sauce starts to thicken. It will still be rather liquid, so if you want to really thicken it up mix together one tbsp cornstarch and one tbsp water in small bowl, then pour the mixture into the sauce and stir. Remove from heat, let cool slightly and then serve on top of a slice of the cheesecake.

All in all, my first cheesecake making experience was a pretty good one! I will definitely use the goat cheese cheesecake recipe again, and I’m already thinking about topping the next one with some blueberry preserves! I think the only thing I would do differently is double the recipe for the crust – it was a little thinner than I like. Oh, and maybe make some whipped cream to top the whole thing off with! 🙂

Many thanks to Carrie from Frugal Foodie Mama and Julie from This Gal Cooks for hosting another fun Spiked Recipe Challenge!