Rum

To make these holiday party standbys, you have to first bake a batch of brownies, then break them into bits, flavor them with rum, and roll them into balls. A generous coat of sanding sugar provides a sparkly finish.

There are thousands of recipes for bread pudding because it’s a classic for usin’ up leftovers. I think some of the best recipes come from New Orleans, where home cooks and restaurant chefs alike treat this humble dish with great respect. That’s where I got the inspiration for ours, which is pillow soft when warm and burstin’ with plump raisins and chewy bits of coconut.

I used to think I made a pretty good rice pudding. Then I went down to Miami and tasted the Cuban version, and I sent myself back to the stove. Now ours is modeled after the best ones I tasted down there. It’s perfumed with a bit of lime peel and has a creamy texture and a smooth taste spiked with rum.

My mom use to take me and my brother to a pastry shop in a weird apartment building in Ottawa, and it had the best pastries. She would always choose the merveilleux. A meringue dessert is the best thing to make when you want to use up egg whites, after, say, an eggnog party! We make it every few weeks at the restaurant and pour hot chocolate sauce over the top at tableside. Everyone digs it.

Here is the dessert we served on opening day at Joe Beef. You can use small foil molds or teacups for serving.

When I was in Trinidad, Winnie Lee Lum showed me how to make this superb dish, which beautifully demonstrates the convergence of Chinese and Trinidadian cooking traditions. Of course, the taste was extraordinary because Lee Lum only cooks with fresh local shrimp that her husband, Tony, purchases for her. Before cooking, she rinses the shrimp in lime juice, a Trinidadian cooking practice said to remove the "fishy" taste. She prefers the Chinese custom of cooking the shrimp in the shell to protect the shrimp's succulence and flavor. Rather than rice wine, Lee Lum insists on using dark Jamaican-style rum; according to her, white rum is too harsh for cooking. This is one of the easiest dishes to stir-fry, and it is guaranteed to satisfy.

The classic rum drink of the fifties. To make a Dark and Stormy, use dark rum and ginger ale.

I guess you could consider this one of many Bundt cakes, but it is different indeed. Though it is shaped and baked in a Bundt pan, the almond slices and the abundant soaking in rum syrup make it Italian American, as it has been made for generations at the Scialo Bros. Bakery in Providence, Rhode Island. Second-generation daughter Carol Gaeta still mans the store, and on the morning when we appeared unannounced, a happy couple, mother and father of the bride, were picking up all the traditional cookies and cakes to be set out at the wedding reception that evening. Italian Americans from Rhode Island, now living in Chicago, they wanted to celebrate this momentous occasion in their family’s Italian American style in their native state. Once the excited mother of the bride had packed all her goodies in the car and left, we had an opportunity to chat with Carol. She took us in the back, where baking sheets full of the butter-rum cake were lined up for soaking. Carol was generous enough to let us taste it, and gave us this delicious recipe to share with you.

This moist, creamy, and flavorful dessert, zuppa inglese (“English soup”), has its roots in the English trifle and it was thought that it first appeared during World War II, when British soldiers were stationed in Italy with only meager custard rations. However, the recipe appears in Pellegrino Artusi’s book, published in 1891, before any Allied forces had been stationed in Italy. Other theories reach as far back as the Renaissance. Zuppa inglese is traditionally made with sponge cake, but I use savoiardi (ladyfinger) cookies, as are used in tiramisù, hence making the assembly much quicker. This dessert was a staple of every Italian American restaurant, and every Italian bakery made a version of it.

Spumoni is a delicious dessert made from three flavors of ice cream stuffed into a cup, and cut in four when frozen. The ice-cream colors reflect the colors of the Italian flag—red, white, and green—and spumoni has long been a big item on the menus of Italian American restaurants. Spumoni has its origins in a Neapolitan dessert, and supposedly came to America in 1905 with Salvatore Lezza. Lezza’s spumoni can still be had on Chicago’s Upper West Side. I filled many a cup with my own homemade ice cream in my early restaurant days, in the seventies, but spumoni is still delicious when made with good store-bought ice cream as well. Here rum gives the spumoni an extra layer of flavor, but the juice of the sour cherries is a great alternative.

A gaznate is a crunchy cylinder filled with a very sweet and airy meringue. They were carefully stacked into a tower and commonly sold outside movie theaters. The meringue is either left white or tinted a fluorescent pink and is commonly flavored with pulque (a fermented alcoholic beverage made from the maguey plant), which many believe is essential. Pulque is practically impossible to get outside Mexico, so I made my version with mezcal. You will need noncorrosive metal tubes, which you can buy at many cooking stores or online, for wrapping the dough and frying it. Or follow the alternative method below if you can’t find the tubes.

Although the name of this drink in Spanish translates into “vanilla oil,” this is no such thing. You can use fresh whole vanilla beans, but this recipe is a good way to use up ones you’ve stored from other recipes. It is a very subtle and lovely drink that I enjoyed in Veracruz, where the beautiful orchid first appeared.

Ladies, this is my go-to drink on a warm summer day. And don’t you know, men love it, too (even though it’s pink!). It’ll satisfy any thirst you may have worked up, but go easy, because even though it may taste like Hawaiian punch, it packs a wallop!

They say that pumpkin pie is one of the scents that men react to most strongly. I’m not sure if I agree, but I think that by combining a smooth pumpkin filling with a chocolate crust, you have a good chance of getting your guests’ attention. I roast the pumpkin in the oven to ensure the filling isn’t watery. It’s really not possible to overcook the pumpkin; in fact, the longer you cook it, the more the flavors become concentrated. If you can’t find a sugar pumpkin, butternut squash or another hard-skinned fall squash would make a fine substitute. You can roast the pumpkin and bake the crusts at the same time, speeding the process along.

Filled with Caribbean flavors, this dinner is made to be enjoyed outdoors. You will need twelve metal or wooden skewers. To keep them from scorching on the grill, soak wooden skewers in water while preparing the ingredients.

The classic dessert bananas Foster was created in 1951 by Paul Blangé in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was named for Richard Foster, a friend of Owen Brennan’s who was then the city’s Crime Commission chairman. If you have been fortunate enough to visit New Orleans and eat at Brennan’s, then you know what an incredible dessert bananas Foster is. Sautéed in a buttery, cinnamony caramel sauce and flambéed with dark rum and banana liqueur, bananas are then poured over creamy, rich vanilla ice cream. On the brunch menu at Bar Americain, I take all those yummy components, replacing the ice cream with a slightly tangy crème fraîche whipped cream, and pair them with delicate crêpes. These crêpes are served as an entrée and not a dessert. I can’t think of a better way to start off my weekend.

Chocolate cream pie has a place of honor in roadside diner pie cases across the country. This deconstructed version inverts the classic format because the gorgeous, silky, deeply chocolaty pudding is worth digging for. Break though a crunchy, buttery graham cracker crust and a smooth layer of whipped cream before making your way to the rich chocolate depths of this decadent “pie.” Chocolate lovers, rejoice.

What could be more American than a pot of baked beans? From “Beantown’s” own Boston baked beans to one of the South’s favorite sides for a plate of barbecue, baked beans are an integral part of our culinary heritage. Molasses is a traditional ingredient here; its dark, rich flavor and thick texture give the dish its characteristic sweetness and consistency. I use a little less than most folks and supplement it with a generous dose of honey to mellow it out and allow the rest of the flavorings—dark rum and barbecue sauce among them—to shine. My southwestern culinary leanings are what prompt me to use black beans. I like their somewhat firm texture, but you could certainly use traditional navy beans if you’d prefer. The fat and smoky flavor of bacon is essential. Double-smoked bacon gives you even more of that amazing taste.

This is mixologist David Alan’s grownup version of that old college party favorite Long Island Iced Tea. By using premium spirits in small amounts, David creates a balanced drink that isn’t too sweet or too strong, a far cry from the frat boy rendition, where one drink could put you out for the night. David omits the standard sweet-and-sour mix and tops the cocktail with the traditional splash of cola. Incidentally, despite its name, the drink doesn’t contain tea, but when all the ingredients are mixed together it sure looks like it.

The fading sun, an ocean breeze, a pitcher of mojitos waiting in the fridge. Open the door, fill the ice bucket, and let the party begin. Invented in Cuba and beloved by many, the rum-based mojito is an inherently festive drink. Friend and colleague cocktail specialist David Alan has created this refreshing watermelon mojito and thoughtfully devised a shortcut to reduce the workload for even the most laid-back party throwers. Preparing the base drink ahead makes it easy to crank out drinks quickly. Adding the club soda at the last minute ensures that all drinks retain the proper level of fizz. So before you set out for the beach, muddle the mint leaves, lime juice, sweetener, and rum in a large pitcher. Stow it in the refrigerator along with several bottles of soda water and a bowl of peeled, seeded, and chunk-up watermelon. Leave a dozen or so eight-ounce Collins glasses on the kitchen counter and when you arrive home with your friends—dazzled and thirsty from a day in the sun—chilly, refreshing mojitos are just moments away.