Rum Balls

A few weeks ago, my friend Dave shared with me some homemade Mexican spiced cake and brandy with brandy. They were so delicious that I ate three of them and ended up taking a large dose of Novolog to compensate at lunchtime. The memory of the delicious desert lingered and I decided I had to attempt to make my own.

Dave's wife, Elizabeth, mentioned that I could use brownies to start my batch so that's what I tried to do. I found and modified a Martha Stewart recipe on the web that used brownies and rum. Martha's recipe uses brownies made from scratch. I don't have Martha's skill or time so I improvised with a packaged brownie mix.

This was my first time using an electric mixer. The mixer belongs to my sister-in-law. The machine is heavy but easy to use.

I ran into one issue while making these. The mixture was as first quite sticky. I added the corn starch to thicken the mixture so that I could make balls. Had I done a little more research I would have found out that putting the mixture into the fridge for 15 minutes would have helped. I would not have needed the corn starch.

I was hoping these would be a hit at the party at my sister-in-law's house. Guests seemed to like it but perhaps they were just being polite.

Ingredients

  • 1 package brownie mix
  • ¾ cup corn starch
  • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons dark rum
  • cocoa powder, for rolling

Directions

  • Make the brownies and let cool.

  • Break brownies into small pieces; transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the corn starch. With the machine on low speed, pour in rum, and mix until crumbs start to come together.

  • Shape into 1-inch balls, and roll in cocoa powder to coat. Transfer to a baking sheet; refrigerate, uncovered, until cold, about 2 hours. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

West Indian Eggnog

Growing up in the British West Indies (Caribbean) in St. Vincent, Bequia, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, I experienced Christmas very differently than the way it is in Central New Jersey1. In the islands I lived in, Christmas trees were always artificial (including face snow! ) and people tended to visit family and friends for drinks and merriment. It was a time for Church, to be specific Catholic Church. Other than that, Christmas day was just like any other festive2 day in the West Indies — breezy and sunny with the possibility of rum.

Bhavna and her family enjoy3 the festive nature of Christmas and this year we are getting together at her sister’s home. My niece, Maya, is the party planner and the dress code is pyjamas. We’ve all got the day off anyway so why not? My nephew’s birthday — Rohan — is the 23rd and my father-in-law’s birthday is the 27th so there are other reasons to get together.

Bhavna asked me about West Indian Christmas food and all I could think of was a clove ham and Punch de Creme4. LOL!

I’m not a big drinker. I enjoy a beer or two during the week and will occasionally drink a cocktail. However, her question got me thinking about what I might contribute culturally. I looked the web for Punch de Creme recipes but they all seemed too involved. I wanted a recipe that would allow me to create single-serving quickly and with just a few ingredients. I found a West Indian Eggnog recipe that I think does the trick.

I tweaked the original recipe a bit. Ron Zacapa rum is too fine to use a mixer so I used something cheaper. I picked up some Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and Planat Cognac VS from Steele’s Wine Cellar. I didn’t have access to sugar cane syrup but Shoprite has Liquid Sugar in the Raw. I also changed the units of measure to metric. This is the 21st century.

I thoroughly enjoyed the result. The drink was not cloyingly sweet and the rum and cognac were nicely balanced. The eggnog was not as “spiced” as I had hoped. Perhaps I need to create my own spice mixture. Enjoy.

West Indian Eggnog

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

A wonderful way to bring some West Indian spirit to the winter holidays.



Credit: islandinthenet.com

Ingredients


Directions

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender, and blend for 15 seconds.
  2. Add ice, and blend again for 5 seconds.
  3. Pour into your favourite mug.
  4. Garnish with a dusting of nutmeg.
  5. Drink and be merry.


  1. I won’t characterize all of New Jersey or the USA as being the same. Regional cultural differences can be found between the northern and southern end of the state. 
  2. a festive mood: jolly, merry, joyous, joyful, happy, jovial, lighthearted, cheerful, jubilant, convivial, high-spirited, mirthful, uproarious; celebratory, holiday, carnival; Christmassy; archaic festal. 
  3. They are Hindus. 
  4. Punch de Creme is the Trinidad and Tobago version of eggnog. 

Drink Like a Pirate Day

On Facebook today is International Drink Like a Pirate Day. I like the caramel coloured drink. It's great straight or mixed with fruit. My favourite rum drinks are the mojito and the caipirinha. Maybe I just like limes.

Rum has a long history in the British West Indies. I would venture to say rum is synonymous with the West Indies.

Some of the many other names for rum are Nelson's blood, kill-devil, demon water, pirate's drink, and Barbados water.1

Barbados water? Yes, Barbados lays claim to being the oldest rum producing country in the Americas.

So what am I, a man from the West Indies – the place where rum was first distilled from cane sugar and molasses2 – to do on International Drink Like a Pirate Day?

For my birthday my sister-in-law and her husband bought me the rock glass and ice ball. It's the perfect glass for drinking fine rums and scotch. A small amount of the best I have available – Mount Gay 1703 – swirled around an ice sphere in a glass designed to evenly chill that liquid seemed just the way to celebrate. Don't mix this rum with fruit juice on penalty of being made to walk the plank over shark-infested waters. Mount Gay claims to be the oldest rum distillery in the world with production going back to 1703. My friend +Mohit picked some up for me on a trip to Bermuda. Thank you, Mohit.

But before I could sip my libation I remembered that I needed a photo for my 52-week project. I also needed some practice with my strobes. I'm doing an action and portrait shoot for some martial arts – Tae Kwon Do – black belts next weekend and I know I need to get more experience with the lights.

I found a white sheet of craft board, placed it on a chair, positioned my subjects, and started firing away. It took me a few shots to get the lighting to something that felt good enough. Good enough for me anyway. I still need a lot of practice.

I downloaded the images to my iPad and did some minor post-processing in Snapseed. I used autocorrect and cropping features. I like the result.

Now back ta enjoyin' me rum, aaaarr! What is your favourite alcoholic drink?

Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
Software : Snapseed for iPad


  1. Wikipedia entry on the Etymology of Rum 
  2. There is evidence that something like rum -- a sugar wine -- was distilled in Asia. Check out The Tradition of Rum and the Sea on the Ministry of Rum website.