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Quick Fix: Berries and Rum Sauce
In my most recent quick fix episode, I talked about a quick and delicious dish of strawberries and balsamic vinegar. It turned out to be one of my most popular episodes, and I have to admit, it had me feeling just a little bit guilty. In that episode I talked about all these other great berries coming in to season (at least around here in Oregon in the Willamette Valley) but then I just went on and gave the spotlight to strawberries, and neglected all the other berries that make spring time so amazing. Now I don’t have time to do a quick fix on every berry, So to rectify that situation I’m here to talk about something that goes great with just about every other type of berry, and it’s really simple to make.
This recipe does require a little cooking, but it’s really quick and simple, and you can make it a day or two ahead of time (store it in the fridge, and you will just need to reheat it before you serve it). We’re making a spicy rum sauce to drizzle over your berries (and ice cream, or bread pudding, or apple pie, or cake, or whatever you want–it goes great with tons of stuff).
Here is what you’ll need:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (that’s one stick)
1/2 cup cream (whipping, or half & half works great)
3 TBSP dark rum
1 stick of cinnamon, or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
What kind of rum should you use? Well, whatever kind you want! I find that Meyer’s Dark Rum is a great all purpose rum for cooking, but you could certainly used spiced rum, or light rum, with good results. Also, if you like your sauce more or less sweet, you can adjust the brown sugar up or down a little to your taste.
Here is what you do:
Heat a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat. Add the butter and brown sugar, stirring until the butter is melted and the sugar becomes smooth. This will probably take a minute or two.
Add the rum, cream and cinnamon and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer uncovered until the sauce becomes thickened, which could take between 5-10 minutes. That’s it! Serve right away (otherwise as it cools it will thicken)!
So there you go, you’ve now got a simple, but decadent and rich, sauce to make all those other berries shine (This would be extra super yummy with more tart berries, like raspberries or blackberries, but really, you can’t go wrong with any berry). And as I mentioned before, you don’t need to use berries. This sauce is great for all sorts of sweet desserts. Just drizzle it on ice cream and that would be enough for me!
