Rum Cream Liqueur Recipe

By: Darcy O'Neil, The Art of Drink

Many people love Irish cream liqueur’s, like Bailey’s or Bushmill’s. These cream liqueur’s are gentle and full of flavour, which appeals to a large section of the population. On the rock’s or in a coffee, you really can’t go wrong. So what makes these liqueur’s so special? Well, you may be surprised to find out that there really isn’t anything magical about these liqueurs. They are simple combination of ingredients you can find at your local grocery store. The cool thing is that you can make cream liqueurs at home, and using rum is a great variation on the crème liqueur theme.

The reason Bailey’s is such a popular liqueur is because of the flavour combination. Any drink with chocolate, cream, vanilla, coffee and Irish whiskey will be a hit. The alcohol content is also sufficiently low so that it doesn’t offend the palates of light drinkers. It is also a very versatile liqueur; it can be used in coffee, on desserts, or sipped on its own.

Many websites and cook books have recipes to make cream liqueurs, but the problem with a lot of the “clone” type recipes is that they use cheap ingredients like chocolate syrup.  That’s right, the stuff you put in milk. Now there is nothing really wrong with chocolate syrup, but it will taste so much better when using high quality chocolate, like Bernard Celebrant, Verona or El Ray. Also, using good quality rum like Havana Club, Appleton or Cockspur will go a long way to making a great liqueur.

Another key ingredient in these liqueurs is coffee, and many recipes say to use instant coffee crystals. However, if you want a more gourmet approach simply put fresh ground coffee (two or three teaspoons) into a filter paper and secure tightly. Then allow the coffee to soak in the rum for ten minutes. Squeeze the filter paper lightly to extract the rum and coffee. The coffee infused rum will taste better than instant coffee crystals, and better flavours translate into a better cream liqueur.

Rum cream is a very versatile liqueur. Not only can it substitute for Irish cream in any cocktail recipe, it can be used in desserts or as a dessert sauce.  Simply pour an ounce or two of the rum cream onto a plate, swirl it around, and then place your dessert on top. Now you have a very professional presentation, with a gourmet dessert sauce.

This is just a standard recipe, but you can modify it to make it match your personal preferences. You can even make traditional Irish cream by substituting Irish whiskey, or you can make Americanize it by adding bourbon to make bourbon cream. 

Rum Cream Liqueur

• 1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk (14 oz.)
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 1/2 Cup Amber Rum
• 1 oz Dark Caramel Syrup
• 2 oz Gourmet Chocolate
• 4 tsp Instant Coffee                                   
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Goldschlager Liqueur

1. Put cream in a pot and bring to a simmer
2. Add the chocolate to the cream and stir until completely melted
3. Remove the pot from the heat source
4. Add the sweetened condensed milk, instant coffee, vanilla, caramel to the pot
5. Stir until completely combined
6. Add the rum and Goldschlager and stir
7. Using a hand or stick blender, blend on high for two minutes to emulsify the mixture*
8. Pour into bottle and store in your refrigerator

* If the mixture is just stirred it will separate. If it does this then just shake vigorously and serve