Well, it’s been a while since I’ve graced the unruly lot of you with some fancy drinks, so I decided to get back on it, and present you with two batter based hot beverages.  These require a little prep work, but it can be batched to produce a large amount of batter.  Both of these are hot beverages that are not just a traditional toddy.

Let’s start with the Tom and Jerry, this drink is not named after the cartoon, as it’s been around since the 1800’s.  This drink does involve raw eggs, so if you have a weakened immune system, only have eggs that have been in the fridge for months, or are allergic to eggs, take a pass.  You can find pasteurized eggs at some grocery stores, which will alleviate some of these risks.

  • To begin, we need to make the batter:
  • 3 eggs separated
  • ½ pound of sugar
  • ¼ tsp of cinnamon
  • Dash of allspice
  • Dash of nutmeg
  • Dash of cloves
  • ½ ounce of rum
  • 1 ½ tbsp vanilla extract
  • Dash of bitters

Start by whipping the egg whites until they reach stiff peaks (a dash of cream of tartar can assist here, but isn’t necessary).  Move the egg whites into another bowl, and start whipping the egg yolks.  Once they are well beaten, add in the sugar (it’ll clump up at this point, which is fine).  After the sugar/egg mixture starts to flow again, add in the spices, rum, vanilla, and bitters.  Continue beating until well mixed, and then fold the egg whites back in.  At this point, move it to a clean (preferably sterilized) container, and park it in the fridge.

To make the actual drink (you deserve a reward for making the batter after all), start by warming up either a small mug or an Irish Coffee mug.  You’ll need the following ingredients:

  • 2 ounces of the batter
  • 1 ounce of rum
  • 1 ounce of cognac
  • 6 ounces of warmed milk

Add the batter and the liquor to the warmed glass, and top with the warmed milk and whisk it quickly to mix the ingredients together (I’m partial to a small battery powered milk frother), and garnish with some fresh grated nutmeg if you are so inclined.

Next we’ll move onto another drink that you can make up a batch of batter for.  The Hot Buttered Rum, which at least for most people of my age group, was first encountered as a Life Savers flavor.

For the batter, we’ll need:

  • 1 stick of butter at room temperature
  • ½ cup of packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon clove
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon allspice
  • Pinch of salt

Put all of this into a bowl, and beat until well combined.

To make the drink, prewarm up a mug and add the following to it:

  • 1 ounce of the batter
  • 2 ounce of dark/spiced rum
  • 6 ounces of hot water

Stir/whisk together, and garnish with a cinnamon stick if you are so inclined.

Both of the batters can scale up or down as you see fit, and can be whipped up in less time than the infamous DblEagle aged eggnog.(just in case you were procrastinating).