Forget “yo-ho-ho.” When the women behind Full Spirited Flavours need rum, they don’t buy a bottle. They import 55-gallon drums.
“We always order a straw, but they said, ‘no,'” joked co-owner Carole Algier, whose Phoenixville company specializes in alcohol-infused cakes (and soon cookies too). “Rum has its own distinct personality, and it gives our cake personality.”
After sampling more than 20 rums, she and her partners/sisters Sue Katein and Kathy Lanyon agreed on a favorite for their Caribbean Coconut Rum Cake.
“It is the most wonderful coconut rum that we use,” described Katein, the baker in the family. “We always say it takes you to the islands.”
Think beyond the pina colada and enjoy a slice of cake sauteed in butter with rum-soaked pineapple. Or fire up the grill for rum-glazed pineapple and vanilla mascarpone – an easy recipe from The Kitchen Workshop in Paoli.
“It’s a great late-summer dessert,” said chef Art Roman. “If not pineapple, peaches would be good – any fruit that you would typically grill.”
As for drinks, Phoenixville-based Bluebird Distilling offers a Light ‘n’ Stormy, featuring ginger beer, lime juice and its Sugarcane Rum.
“It’s a play on 1800s rum from the French Caribbean,” said founder and distiller Jared Adkins. “It’s a really flavorful rum that lends itself well to today’s mixology.”
He also makes Dark Rum, which “is our Sugarcane Rum that’s then put back in our bourbon barrels and our rye whiskey barrels… adding really complex notes of dark fruit and honey.”
At Paramour in Wayne, restaurant manager Paul Zuber mixes rum, port, vermouth, calvados and plum bitters in a “spirit-forward” signature cocktail called Wood to Burn.
The name? It’s from a Francis Bacon quote – “Age appears best in four things: old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust and old authors to read.”
And “the result,” he noted, “is a well-integrated, sturdy and sophisticated sipper.”
So, raise a glass to National Rum Day. Or take a page from Full Spirited Flavours and grab a fork.
“What could be better than a little alcohol and a great cake?” Katein said.
Light ‘n’ Stormy
Ingredients11/2 ounces Sugarcane Rum
1/2 ounce Demerara syrup1/2 ounce lime juice
4 ounces ginger beerGarnish – lime wedge
Glass – collinsInstructionsAdd rum, Demerara and lime to shaker. Add ice and shake for 5 seconds. Strain over ice into a collins glass and top with ginger beer. Enjoy
RECIPE COURTESY OF BLUEBIRD DISTILLING
Wood to Burn
Ingredients1 ounce Groult Reserve Calvados
1 ounce Mount Gay Rum3/4 ounce Graham’s Six Grape Port
3/4 ounce Dolin Rouge Vermouth3 dashes Fee Brothers Plum Bitters
Brandied cherryInstructions Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass over ice, stir to combine, chill and dilute. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a brandied cherry.
RECIPE COURTESY OF PARAMOUR
Caramelized Caribbean Coconut Rum Cake
This dish combines sauteed and caramelized slices of our Caribbean Coconut Rum Cake with and a slice of pineapple and ice cream, or whipped cream. What’s not to like?
IngredientsFull Spirited Flavours full-size Caribbean Coconut Rum Cake (4 straight-cut slices)
1 tablespoon of butter4 scoops vanilla ice cream or 4 scoops whipped cream
4 slices pineapple, soaked in coconut rum
InstructionsHeat saute pan and melt butter to bubbling hot. Place cake slices and coconut rum-soaked pineapple in pan. Do not touch cake slices for at least 35 seconds or until you can smell them caramelizing, then flip and do the other side the same way. Place cake on individual serving plates. Garnish each with ice cream or whipped cream and pineapple. Serves 4.
RECIPE COURTESY OF FULL SPIRITED FLAVOURS
Grilled Pineapple with Butter-Rum Glaze and Mascarpone
Ingredients1 cup dark rum12 tablespoons (11/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar1 vanilla bean
8 ounces mascarpone1 ripe pineapple, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1/2 cup fresh blueberriesInstructions
Combine the rum, butter and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer, whisking often, until the sugar has melted and the mixture is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. (The glaze can be made a few days in advance, cooled, covered and kept refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before using.) Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise in half and scrape out the seeds with the tip of a sharp knife. Whisk the mascarpone and vanilla seeds together. (The mascarpone can be made a day in advance, covered and kept refrigerated.) Heat your grill to high. Grill the pineapple slices, brushing frequently with the glaze, until browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove the pineapple to a platter or serving plates and top each slice with a dollop of vanilla mascarpone. Garnish with a few fresh blueberries. Serve immediately. Serves 6.
RECIPE COURTESY OF THE KITCHEN WORKSHOP
