Welcome to the one time of year when it’s totally acceptable (encouraged even) that we coat our throats with a hearty dose of booze and butter. That’s right, my friends… it’s totally time to drink butter. Call your mom, call your friends, text your ex-boyfriend from three ex-boyfriends ago (awesome excuse), and let everyone know that it’s time to get on this drinkable butter bandwagon. Hallelujah, this is fun/dangerous/delicious/ridiculous/whaaaat!?
This post is brought to you by: there’s a bottle of spiced rum ‘decorating’ my desk (and something must be done about it).
Let’s start with our spices. Cinnamon sticks are stellar. Freshly grated nutmeg is so fragrant it’s bonkers. Fresh cloves are in-your-face holiday. This is a solid trio. Should you want to spice things up for real, you might try a few dried anise seeds, too. Just a few!
I find that it’s important to use whole spices for this recipe. The whole cinnamon sticks and cloves will be steeped in our liquid. The one small exception is the nutmeg… we don’t throw the whole nutmeg pod in, we simply fresh grate a few good pinches into the liquid. Cool?
We’re using a spiced apple cider as our base liquid. I just used a bottled, unfiltered apple cider… the kind of apple cider you’d want to chug cold, straight from the jar (not that I did that, or anything).
Cider is brought to a simmer and the essence of spices are infused into the liquid. If you place your face over the steaming cider… it’s like a cider facial (which probably costs about three hundred dollars in Beverly Hills).
A bit of butter is added as well. Butter is melted and whisked into the steaming cider. What could be bad about this!? Absolutely nothing (unless you’re vegan or allergic to butter).
To finish the cider we add a hearty dose of black spiced rum, round sliced apples, and a splash of fresh lemon juice.
This Hot Buttered Rum and Cider is my new go-to holiday cocktail situation. I’m going to keep in warm in a dutch oven on the stove top when I know people will be stopping by. I made a batch and actually placed it back in the apple cider jar or future holiday-drop-in circumstances. I appear to be clever… but I might just drink it all myself.
Feel free to adapt this recipe in any way you see fit. If you don’t have rum, try bourbon. If you’re vegan, leave out the butter. If you’re not into booze at all… well heck, just leave it out! The heart of this dish lies in the warm and spiced apple cider. Rum and butter just make it go down all the easier.
It’s a holidaaaaayyy!
xo
Hot Buttered Rum and Cider
serves 4
adapted from Epicurious
3 cups spiced apple cider
1/2 cup water
2 cinnamon sticks
10 whole cloves
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter
3/4 cup dark spiced rum
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
sliced apples and cinnamon sticks for serving
In a medium saucepan, combine cider, water, cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes.
Uncover, return to medium heat, and add butter. Stir until melted. Remove from heat, stir in bourbon and lemon juice. Remove cinnamon sticks and cloves. Add sliced apples before serving. I like to serve the cider in mugs with cinnamon sticks for garnish.
[…] I love Christmas and everything that goes with it, but I am a bit tired of eggnog. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but why not change the tradition from time to time and bring something new into your Christmas kitchen game. That’s why I decided to recommend you this delicious buttered rum and apple cider. […]