Four great recipes with Rum

If you like piña colada... tropical drinks, sweets and not much into counting your cocktail and dessert calories, here some very tasty and easy recipes with probably the most versatile liquor in the world, Rum. But first of all, some things you should know about this spirit.

Rumis a beverage made by a process of fermentation and distillation of sugarcane by-products (molasses and sugar cane juice). The process of distillation produces a clear liquid that is usually aged for a period between one and seven years in a barrel of oak or other wood. The formerly known "Sugar Cane Islands", that is the Caribbean or the West Indies, produces the majority of the world's rum production. Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic are among the world's best known producers of this spirit. But other countries in the Caribbean basin, for instance Colombia, Guatemala and Venezuela, are also major producers of this beverage, as well as Brazil and Guyana.

There are several types of rum that describes the variations in the product. Here a general description of the three types of rum that are recommended in most recipes.

• Light Rums, also referred to as silver rums and white rums are sometimes filtered after aging to remove any color. They usually have very little flavor aside from a general sweetness. The mild flavor of this type of rum makes them popular for use in mixed-drinks, as opposed to drinking it straight. The majority of Light Rums comes out from Puerto Rico.
• Gold Rums, also called amber rums, are medium-bodied rums which are generally aged. Their color comes from the process of aging in wooden (oak) barrels. They have more flavor, and are stronger tasting than Light Rums.
• Dark Rum, also known as black rum, is generally aged longer than gold rums. Dark rum has a much stronger flavor than light and gold rum, and usually spices flavors can be detected, along with a strong molasses or caramel overtone. Dark rum is commonly used in cooking and it is used to provide color and substance in drinks. Most Dark Rum comes from places such as Jamaica, Haiti, Martinique, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

There are several stories and a debate about the origins of the Piña Colada, but most stories points out Puerto Rico as the birthplace of this world famous drink. Some stories trace back the creation of the piña colada to early 19th century and establishes Puerto Rican Pirate, Roberto Cofresí, as the "father" of the mix. Other stories marks the birth of this tropical drink in 1954 by San Juan's Caribe Hilton bartender Ramón Marrero, who mixed pineapple juice with the recently invented, cream of coconut, and rum. Another story claims that a Spanish bartender working in an Old San Juan restaurant created the drink in the mid-1960s.

Ingredients (four servings)

• 1/2 cup light rum
• 1/2 cup coconut cream
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup 100% pineapple juice or pineapple chunks
• Ice cubes

Put all ingredients in a blender with 2 cups of ice. Blend at a high speed for about a minute. Strain into a collins glass; garnish with a cherry and a slice of pineapple.

Ingredients for the cake:

• 1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
• 1 18-1/2 ounce yellow cake mix
• 1 1-3/4 ounce instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup cold milk or water
• 1/2 cup vegetable (corn or canola) oil
• 1/2 cup of dark rum

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour 12 cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts on bottom of pan. Combine all cake ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes on high with electric mixer. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool in pan. Invert on serving plate. Prick top with fork. Drizzle glaze over top of cake. Use a brush or spoon to put extra dripping back on cake.

Ingredients for the glaze

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup dark sugar
• 1/2 cup dark rum

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Be careful, the rum will cause steam.

This drink was invented in the 1930s by the famous cocktail luminary Ernest Beaumont-Gantt, better known as Donn Beach. (Check the interesting story here.)

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 oz light rum
• 1 oz dark rum
• 1 oz apricot brandy
• 1 oz fresh lime juice
• 1 oz pineapple juice
• 2 oz orange juice
• 1 oz passion-fruit juice
• 1 - 2 tsp powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Strain into a collins glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with an orange or lime slice.

Coquito is a traditional Puerto Rican beverage that is usually consumed during the Christmas festivities. This drink is commonly confused with Ponche (Puerto Rican eggnog), which is also prepared for the holidays.There are several differences between this two drinks although their appearance is similar. A major difference is that Coquito includes coconut milk and cream, which are not used in the Ponche. In addition, the Ponche includes eggs, condensed milk and cinnamon (some people also add vanilla), but these ingredients are not used in the traditional Coquito.

Ingredients

• (2) 15 oz cans of coconut milk
• (1) 15 oz can of evaporated milk
• (1) 12 oz can of coconut cream
• 10 oz of light rum (or include rum to taste)

Spices tea: Boil a half cup of water with ginger and cloves

In a blender mix the milks, the coconut cream and about 1/4 cup of the spice tea. When everything is well mixed, add the rum. Pour in a glass bottle and refrigerate for about 2 or 3 hours before serving. Serve in a sherry or port glass.

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