Alex Guarnaschelli's Hot Buttered Rum, Beauty, as seen on The Kitchen, Season 40
Recipe courtesy of Alex Guarnaschelli

Hot Buttered Rum

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  • Level: Easy
  • Total: 15 min
  • Active: 15 min
  • Yield: 4-6 Servings
This drink is all about combining a few strong flavors together. They end up collaborating instead of eclipsing one another: the butter, the dark rum, the spices. I make this because I truly love the flavor of a buttered rum Lifesaver candy and it takes me back! The butter forms a silky texture and brings out the spices and the almost floral notes from the rum. You can use a fancy-pants rum here if you like, but the dark rum is where you will find the most nostalgia. This is rich but not too rich. Bone-warming on a chilly night. To be clear, I have also made this on a hot summer day...

Ingredients

Spiced Butter:

Drinks:

Directions

  1. For the spiced butter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, salt, allspice and cloves until it becomes a smooth paste. Keep at room temperature.
  2. For the drinks: Bring the vanilla and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the rum and warm over low heat. Whisk in the spiced butter.
  3. Ladle into 6 small cups or 4 larger heatproof glasses and top liberally with whipped cream.

Cook’s Note

A Cool Topping: If you use vanilla beans, scrape and use the precious vanilla seeds for custard or ice cream. Take the leftover vanilla pod and flatten it on a baking sheet. Place it on a tray covered with parchment in a 180 degree F oven until dried and brittle feeling, 90 minutes to 2 hours. Remove and let it dry out for 30 minutes. Blend to a powder in the blender. Sprinkle the powder on top of the whipped cream here and on any fun drinks or desserts.