Rum?

[vakkotaur]

Nobody put in an appearance to decry fruitcake or the committing thereof. There was agreement that real ingredients (butter, eggs, spirits) be used - and that the spirits were essential. Rum seems to be the canonical spirit for this sort of thing. I don't know enough about rum to judge what might be good or bad.

So, what rum would you recommend for soaking a fruitcake? And maybe for other baking. Possibly even drinking, though probably not by itself.

Comments

[kiwihunter8.livejournal.com]

I think last time I just used Bacardi, but I am not an alcohol wise person :)

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

I picked up a rather small bottle of Bacardi, mainly to complete a pina colada mix, but it seems like it might be a reasonable thing. Maybe I was remembering some spiced rum that I didn't think too highly off.

[cal-foxx.livejournal.com]

eep, I am late again.

The link below is the fruitcake recipe my mom and now I use without fail each and every time... one could consider using it to try out? It's YUMMMMMM!


http://www.pbase.com/digipets/image/53787434

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Not late. I don't plan to initiate this thing until after Thanksgiving. My Christmas plans are somewhere in early January, so I have some time to think things through, or over.

[jmaynard.livejournal.com]

Don't look at me. The only rum I know by brand is Myers's Dark Rum, and that's not for baking...that's for sipping, slowly.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

I would guess that any "decent" brand, such as Ronrico or Bacardi or Mount Gay would work well. For this purpose, even a spiced rum such as Captain Morgan might be OK. I would avoid the dark rums and "bargain" brands. Or Bacardi 151 for fairly obvious reasons.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

I think I'd best avoid the spiced rums, at least for now. I think it was Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum that really put me off - by flavor, not from overdoing it. And yes, 151 seems rather close to motorfuel for this.

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

I don't "do" any goodies soaked in rum, but I'd give you generally the advice they give people about cooking with wine. Use the best rum you can get, particularly if you like the taste of it when sipped, slowly.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

That's just the thing, I don't know from rum.

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

Granted. What I'm saying is that flavor has to be the main consideration. You may have to learn enough about rum to know what you think tastes good to do this project.

[pharwarner.livejournal.com]

For cooking you need to use dark rum, white rum like Bacardi won't impart any flavor to the cake. Around here we always used Captain Morgan rum for fruitcake and plum puddings. Brandy is also good for cakes, if you want a little less flavor than rum gives. Any cheap dark rum would be okay. Also, traditionally, it's just regular brandy rather than the flavored types that get used in cooking.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I've seen a couple recipes specifically calling for apricot brandy.

ANY cheap dark rum? Or does it follow what I call "Child's Law" (after Julia Child): If wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it.

[pharwarner.livejournal.com]

Narfy,I guess I need to keep up with more recent recipes. I'm thinking of ones from the early 20th century and I guess the flavored brandys didn't exist then. Apricot brandy would be good for some applications.

I think the quality matters a little less with spirits. Red wine in spaghetti sauce is one where you definitely don't want to use really cheap stuff.