Hot Buttered Rum

Some drinks warm your hands. This one warms your soul. Hot buttered rum has been the answer to Louisiana's rare cold snaps since the French Quarter was young. When that damp winter wind comes off the river, nothing else will do.

At Lagniappe, we serve this from Thanksgiving through Mardi Gras. The secret is the batter: butter whipped with brown sugar and spices until it becomes something like a sweet, fragrant compound that melts on contact with hot water and rum. Make a batch and keep it in your icebox. When guests arrive cold and tired, you're three minutes from being the best host they've ever known.

My grandmother Evangeline made her batter with a little vanilla and a pinch of salt. She said the salt makes everything else taste more like itself. Four generations later, I still make it her way. The proportions matter less than the quality of your ingredients. Use real butter, dark muscovado if you can find it, and rum with some character. Cheap rum makes cheap drinks, and we don't do cheap in this kitchen.