We’re shakin’ it up a bit around these parts. See… every month my ad network Foodbuzz finds 24 bloggers that are keen on mixing up a few drinks, cooking up some food, inviting a few friends and calling it a party. With this inspiration, my darling friends Rachel, Whitney and I decided to throw a rum driven cocktail party.
An evening in Santiago de Cuba was a colorful celebration of food, life and… rum! Every dish served was either rum infused, splashed with rum or soaked in rum. Really.. what could go wrong!?
Rachel. Foxy as every. You’ll never guess how old she is… and I’ll never tell.
But seriously… we’ve got rum to talk about.
Giant paper flowers transform this ordinary chandelier into something less ordinary.
People came through the door. I smiled at them. It all worked out pretty well. We were happy to see one another.
Drinks were served and enjoyed. This creation was a black lime and fresh orange rum inspired margarita with citrus salt. So bright. So delicious.
Creamed Plantain soup with Citrus Black Bean Salsa and Chorizo. Creamy and alluring, this soup was earthy and meaty and utterly delicious. Coconut milk seems to be the key to all things amazing.
Creamed Plantain Soup w/Citrus Black Bean Salsa & Chorizo
Serves 4-6
Takes about 1 ½- 2 hours
1 small onion or half a large, diced fine
1 carrot, scrubbed, trimmed, diced small
2 slender ribs of celery or 1 fat one, scrubbed, trimmed, diced small
2 cloves garlic, crushed, peeled, sliced
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp dried oregano
Healthy pinch or two of dried chili flakes, your taste depending
A few tablespoons grapeseed, canola or preferred vegetable oil
2 large green plantains, peeled and sliced in 1”
pieces
Zest of 1 orange & juice to taste
Sea salt & pepper
5 cups Vegetable stock
1 can coconut milk
A few tablespoons of aged rum, Bacardi Anejo or Select, or equivalent
How to make it:
-heat a stock pot or large soup pot over medium flame until you can feel heat with your palm open above the surface about 1-2”
-add a few tablespoons of cooking oil and tip pan to coat
-add the onions, celery & carrots, stir well, spread evenly over the bottom of the pan
-leave it alone for about 2-3 minutes, stir & spread across bottom evenly about every 30 seconds
-stir this way for about 5-10 minutes until vegetables are tender, add the plantains, stir to coat & increase heat slightly
-reduce heat to medium once you get a little sizzle, stir and distribute evenly, sauté 5 minutes
-add garlic, dried spices & citrus zest, stir well & toast about 30 seconds, season with salt & pepper to taste
-add vegetable stock to cover and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat to maintain an active simmer, stir occasionally, while simmering, be sure to stir carefully and scrape the bottom of the pan: green plantains are very starchy, a lot of those starches will settle in the bottom & try to burn
-simmer 45 minutes to an hour until plantain pieces slide easily from a paring knife inserted to the center (if you are making the black bean salsa, now is a good time to start)
-turn off heat & cool about 15 minutes, stir in coconut milk, rum and orange juice
-in a heavy duty blender, blend the soup in batches, do not fill the work bowl over half way, remove the inner plastic piece from the lid and cover with a folded kitchen towel to make room for steam build up
-puree until smooth, you may need to add water or vegetable stock to loosen
-put pureed soup into a cleaned soup pot & gently bring back to a simmer before serving, check for seasoning and texture, green plantain can get a little gummy, so add water as needed to loosen
-serve hot, garnished with black bean salsa, fried chorizo, or simply a few leaves of cilantro
Note: if serving with black beans & chorizo, you will want to prepare your salsa & chorizo while the soup simmers. For chorizo, simply sauté a couple links with cooking oil over medium heat & break up with the back of a spoon, don’
t be afraid to let it get crispy. Each bowl of soup can be garnished with a as much or as little beans & chorizo as suits your fancy
Warm Citrus Black Bean Salsa
Takes about 20 minutes
For plantain soup garnish:
1 ½ cups cooked black beans or a small can, rinsed
½ small yellow onion, fine dice
1 small carrot, fine dice
1 clove garlic, very fine dice
Cooking oil
Zest of one small orange
Small handful of cilantro leaves, chopped coarsely
Sea salt & fresh cracked pepper
Olive oil to finish
How to make it:
-heat a medium skillet over medium heat, add a couple tablespoons of cooking oil
-add the onion and stir, sauté until tender & translucent, about 5 minutes, add carrot, sauté to tender, about another 5 minutes
-add garlic, stir about 30 seconds, add beans & stir to coat, season to taste with salt & pepper
-stir in citrus zest, stir about 30 seconds
-remove from heat & stir in cilantro
-drizzle some olive oil to finish
‘
For dessert Whitney pulled out all the stops with a cinnamon infused rum and coffee drink. With three different kinds of milk, this drink was creamy, coconutty, rich and aromatic. I’ve never had anything quite like it. Creamy but not milky. Sweet but not cloying. Spicy but still delicate. Amazing.
Tres Leche Cafe Rumbano
makes a lot of cocktails
Bottle of bacardi 8 yr (or other aged rum)
Generous amounts of cinnamon bark (2 cups?)
Infuse for at least 3 days. A week would be money.
Make coffee. Use equal parts coffee and raw cane sugar. 2 cups of each to make a sweet coffee syrup.
Warm 1 cup of cocunt milk, 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup half and half on the stove until slightly simmering. Add to the infused rum and coffee syrup mixture. Let sit covered in an airtight container overnight on the counter. Pass through a fine mesh strainer. Served shaken and straight up with a drizzle of coconut milk and a dusting of cinnamon.
With the Tres Leches Cafe Rumbano we served Tres Leches Cake. Was there any choice, really?
This Tres Leches Cake was a dense almond flavored cake soaked individually sliced and soaked in evaporated milk, half and half, sweetened condensed milk, coconut milk and aged rum. I know… that’s way more than three milks. The cake was served with barely sweet whipped cream and garnished with hibiscus flower petals. Pretty. A sweet end to a rum filled evening.
Tres Leches Cake
makes 18 cubes of cake
For the Cake:
1 1/2 cups plus 1 Tablespoon of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
For the Glaze:
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup half and half
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cinnamon stick
1 cardamom pod
3 Tablespoons aged rum
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a 13 by 9-inch metal pan and set aside.
Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine. It’s a lot of eggs and the mixture will appear soupy. Add the vanilla and almond extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches and mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Slice the edges off the entire cake and portion into 18 cubes of cake. Poke the top of each slice with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze.
Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, half and half, coconut milk, cinnamon and cardamom in a saucepan over medium heat. Allow to just warm, cover and place in the fridge for 2 hours. Stir in the rum. Arrange the tres leches cake in a dish with 1-inch sides. Pour the milks over the cake slowly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Most people like to leave the cakes to soak overnight…. but I don’t like overly soggy cake and find that four hours is juuuust fine.
Serve with slightly sweetened whipped cream.
Loads of rum. Great friends. Pretty smiles. That’s what happens when you take a few bottles of rum and add it to just about everything you can get your hands on.
66 Responses
Seriously…can you come throw a party in Alexandria, VA…theme “I live in a 16 foot wide townhouse and I have 50 inches of counter space” aka “efficient entertaining” hehe. Love the ideas…I might need to copy and add some Cuban pork sandwiches too.
JOY! your so pretty in your dress! there should be more pictures of you…and you inspired me to cover up my blond highlights and go back to my dark locks. Yummy recipes! thanks!
Shannon
http://www.cascobaysoap.blogspot.com
Love the mood in these photos! Makes me think I’m in Cuba! Well done on an inspired 24-24-24 event.
Love the photography…very reminiscent of Cuba in the fifties pre-Castro. Congrats.
Sounds very South American inspired, with the Tres Leches cake & chorizo…mmmm. Any chance of an asado, too?
Congratulations for being one of the other 23. What a fun idea !! Love that tres leches cake.
I want to know about the margaritas! Is there a recipe for those? :-) Looks like a fun party!
I love it! Nice photos and for sure you cannot go wrong with rum. Beautiful!
Black lime and fresh orange rum? YUM!! It looks like you had a fabulous evening and is another reminder to me that we REALLY need to to a 24-24-24 event!
YOU LOOK AMAZING!!! yayyy you! and rum…yayy rum! I have to try harder to get my butt down to the next On The Lamb event because this looks like such a good time!
First time coming to your site and love that the 1st post is on Cuba… Being Cuban born, I can appreciate your interest and attention to detail in capturing the things that make the island and our food/culture so special~ nice job!!
this looks like so much fun! and the coffee sounds to die for!!!
also- you look absolutely gorgeous!
YAY! We were both part of the 24,24,24 event… I’m so happy to be in it with you! (Feels like we are REAL friends,now-lol) We both went for the Latin theme.. wooohoo! I love your photos and the “50’s postcard effect” LOVE IT!!!! :)
Hello? Where is the recipe for that yummy cocktail? :) Please?
yo soy cubana and i’m very impressed. love all things old havana! will def add these recipes to the list!
The food looks so good! I wish I could have been there!
I agree. Coconut milk makes everything better. I catered an event last night that was drowning in coconut milk. I’m pretty sure I made some new friends. Hope you had fun.
you look absolutely gorgeous my dear!
wow! Everything looks so delicious! I love the little white dishes. What a fun party. I can’t wait to make it all!
Thanks for sharing all the delicious recipes! The soup plus garnish look amazing! :)
Joy, you look gorgeous – even more so than usual that is! Pardon my inquisitivity, but is that your red-haired boy? ;-)
noooo… i’m afraid not.
sounds like a kickass party! CAKE soaked in RUM, a clear win-win!
Good gravy Martha I WANT TO GO TO THERE!
You are darling. I love the theme! :)
You look really stunning, love the hair!
And the cake too, of course.
Thank you for a wonderful rummy and aromatic evening! Lookin’ forward to the next, heck ya!
That’s party looked awesome! You have totally inspired me!
Joy, you seem so awesome. Please move to San Francisco and be my neighbor.
You look great!..and so does the food. Neat pictures!
i really like your pictures! how did you get them like that??? im curious. (:
rollip.com magic!
Oh, Joy, you look gorgeous! Also, pretty sure I also own that red belt. Great bakers think alike.
I can toast to a night fueled by rum.
Cool pics. Cool Chicks. Deliciousness. I can’t WAIT to go to one of your parties! Hey, nice dress.
I love the texture and color of these photographs!
Must. Make. That. Cake. It just sounds so yummy! And not to mention – you girls look lovely!
Some party! You people sure know how to have fun. :)
Really awesome photos, I love when they look vintage! And these recipes are so exotic sounding, looks like you guys had a ton of fun!
Looks like a great time! And everyone looked impeccable! Sassy!
Sounds amazing.
I’m not nearly hip enough to hang with you and your LA crew, but I like to think I can at least be a blog buddy…if only because I like cake. :)
Such a grrrrreat theme of a party! Gorgeous people (YOU especially)gorgeous setting (love the BIG tissue flowers) and of course gorgeous FOOD and DRINK. Simply lovely!
awesome pics – i like the faded photography look. it’s got character!
Yay, I’m glad you posted the cake recipe/photos! Sounds amazing…as does that tres leches cocktail. Dayum! Also agreeing with all the comments about you looking fabulous. Rock on!
Well, that looks like more fun than a barrel of monkeys. I need friends who like to cook that much. Yum!
The plaintain soup with black bean salsa looks amazing. Will have to try that for sure. I have an idea for you: Do you feel like tackling any gluten free baking products?
Seriously, Joy, is there anything you can’t do???
lots i can’t do. yes.
Everything looks great! Now I got to go get my hands on some Tres Leches cake…
Beautiful…..The dishes and you!!!
Wow that is an incredible 24,24,24! Would love to come to that amazing meal!
The party looks so fun but what I really want to know is the recipe to that drink with the black lime (wth is black lime?). Spill it, lady!
What a party! Love the good food and amazing photography.
Those pictures are fabulous! I thought they were paintings at first. It helped me to get a great feel for the evening like it portrayed the vibe. I love taking pictures and I will for sure remember this effect in the future.
This looks like so much fun! I love how gauzy and soft all of the pictures look, are they film or digital? And that coffee drink looks unreal…completely unreal.
they’re digital pictures… just with a few effects on them. yaay technology!
You look beautiful in the picture where you are greeting guests. Your dress is so stunning – is it vintage? It has that whole vintage-y old school feeling to it. Looks like a fabulous evening!
xxx
I love the old school looking photography! So cool!
Wow, this sounds like my kind of party! the cake and dessert sound like bliss!
Wow, lady…you look HOT! Love the hair and dress!!!
Fun party!! Love me some rum. And all the yummy samplings of course.
Your hair looks adorable! Did you cut it? How did you style it/curl it/cut it?! I need a fresh new look and although I can’t pull off those cute bangs, i would love to have something sassy like this.
Aw thanks! I did cut my hair shorter. It’s shorter in the back and longer in the front with messy bangs. I usually just pass a small barrel curling iron through it and call it a day. Cute enough!
I also love tres leches cake (blogged about it as my first blog post, actually). When I lived in Chile, we had tres leches cake at every birthday, and now it’s a hit with my family in the States. Looking forward to trying tres leches cafe!
it looks like a great party time! …and yummy food!
I’m totally inspired!
and WOW – I can’t wait make AND enjoy the tres leche duo!
thank you for your awesome blog – it’s bueno!
Girl, you look like a million bucks! And with party throwing skills like that on top of it, STOP IT. Prediction: you will get a bunch of marriage proposals after this post.