Gingerbread Cream Liqueur is deeply warming and comforting. This smart winter tipple blends spice-infused rum and fresh cream in a way that is hard to resist. Treat yourself, or a loved one, to a bottle this winter.
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All of my adult life I've been partial to a glass of Baileys. I think my heart was won over early on because I'd occasionally find a Maraschino cherry floating in my glass. So it's really little wonder that I've finally got around to developing a recipe inspired by this well-loved drink. Today I'm talking about this nifty little mutant drink of mine - Gingerbread Cream Liqueur.
This liqueur is made using dark rum which I've spiked with a hefty whack of ginger, sweetened with dark muscovado sugar and made ultra indulgent by finally blending with a splash of cream. The result is a sweet, spicy, warming and creamy little nip of alcohol that will most likely leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside. It's straight-up alcoholic cuddle time.
At the heart of this liqueur is an infusion of rum with plenty of ginger and a few other select ingredients. After 5 days, the rum will have picked up plenty of ginger spice flavour and will be ready to be magically transformed into this smooth and spicy Gingerbread Cream Liqueur.
Since the liqueur must be kept refrigerated once mixed with the cream, it can be served just as it is: chilled. Or over ice. The choice is yours. If there just happens to be a log fire blazing in front of you when you're drinking it then I am eternally jealous all the better.
Bonus: anybody not into creamy liqueurs may well enjoy a small tot of the ginger-infused rum by itself. It is slightly sweet with a pleasant burst of spice and is perfect served at room temperature or slightly chilled. Sip it slowly though, since it serves up a punchy hit of alcohol.
Alternatively, get yourself organised in the early autumn and set a batch of my damson gin to infuse. It'll be ready just in time for December.
I tend to make up a large amount of the infused rum in one go. Then I can mix small bottles of the Gingerbread Cream Liqueur when I’m in the mood for it. This way it’s always fresh. And lucky me, it’s getting around to that time of year when creamy little numbers like this take centre stage on cold, frosty evenings.
For anybody feeling particularly generous, a little bottle of Gingerbread Cream Liqueur makes a lovely gift for your hardworking Thanksgiving or (gasp) Christmas host. Just grab yourself some small gift bottles and attach a pretty label.
There. I said it. That C word. Sorry, but I need to ensure you’re prepared. And you won’t be fully prepared unless you’ve got your rum infused and ready to blend into this regretfully good Gingerbread Cream Liqueur. So now you've been warned to get you infusion going. Go on...
More ideas for Food Gifts:
- Gin and Tonic Truffles
- Marmalade Ginger Cranberry Granola
- Amaretto Cherry Jam
- Black Forest Chocolate Liqueur
- Custard Cream Truffles
Homemade Gingerbread Cream Liqueur
Ingredients
For the Ginger Infused Rum
- 500 ml/ 2 cup dark rum
- 20 g/ ⅜ cup fresh ginger
- 30 g (about eight 1cm cubes) crystallised ginger
- 100 g/ ½ cup dark muscovado sugar
- 10 cloves
- 4 inch stick cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Gingerbread Cream Liqueur
- 125 ml/ ½ cup ginger infused rum
- 125 ml double (heavy) cream - see notes
- 60 ml condensed milk (sweetened)
Instructions
Make the Ginger Infused Rum
- Roughly chop the fresh and crystallised ginger and give the cinnamon & cloves a quick bash with the end of a rolling pin to break them up a little
- Tip the spices into a sealable large jar able to take 750ml/ 3 cups liquid. A screw top jar is ideal
- Add the vanilla extract and the sugar then pour the rum into the jar
- Tighten the lid and swirl the jar a few times
- Leave in a cool dark place for 5 days, giving the jar a quick swirl for the first few days to encourage the sugar to dissolve
- Strain through a piece of muslin/ cheesecloth and store in a sealed jar until you wish to make the cream liqueur
Make the Cream liqueur
- Pour the rum, cream and condensed milk into a clean jug and stir until blended
- Pour into a bottle, seal and store in the fridge until required
- Give the bottle a gentle shake before serving in small glasses either chilled or over ice
- Keeps for between 2-3 weeks, depending on the freshness of the cream used
Darren Wilber
This was fantastic! I made a big batch and the second bottle sat for a week and tasted even better than the first. The rum itself is a treat enjoyed just neat at room temperature or chilled. It is also fun to make!
I highly recommend buying a 1.75 liter bottle of Flor de Cana (4) aged rum for this recipe if you can get it at the price I can here - only $22 a bottle which is a tremendous bargain. Happy imbibing to all.
Jane Saunders
Fantastic Darren - so pleased you've enjoyed it so much. Now I'm jealous of your rum recommendation - the biggest bottle I've seen here in the UK is 1 litre.
Lou
I have just made the cream liqueur which was delicious but after 5 mins it has spilt/curdled what have I done wrong ?
Jane Saunders
Oh no! I've not heard of it splitting on anybody before. My best guess would be that the liquid has come into contact with something acidic (maybe in the mixing jug or bottle it was decanted into) or the cream was at the end of its shelf life. I hope your experience doesn't put you off trying again - it's a cracking recipe, with nothing in it to make the liqueur split.
Kathy
Where do you get the muscovado sugar? Amazon doesn't have it. Thanks.
Jane Saunders
Hi Kathy, muscovado sugar should be available from the supermarket - what country are you in?
Terri
Great idea- pinning this!
Jane Saunders
Thanks so much Terri
Shannon Brown
Hi there. I am interested in making the gingerbread cream liqueur and I was wondering how I would change the recipe to make 12 bottles of this stuff. My family is big and I would like everyone to have one as a gift.
I am having a hard time figuring out the measurements. If it helps we use the metric system here in Ontario, Canada. All the help I can get it much appreciated.
Jane Saunders
Hi Shannon. I'd be glad to help unravel the maths. Can you tell me the approximate size of the bottles you're aiming to fill?
Emma
Mine curdled, Devestated!
Jane Saunders
Oh no Emma, I'm so sad to hear that. The only thing that would make the ingredients curdle in this recipe is if the mix has accidentally come into contact with something acidic, perhaps in the bowl/ jug it was mixed in or stored in. If you try it again, double-check all items are scrupulosity clean since even just a trace of lemon juice/ vinegar etc left on a spoon/ bowl/ bottle can play havoc with fresh cream. I typically re-wash clean items in hot soapy water before starting recipes like this to be on the safe side.
Jane Saunders
And if you do make it again, you can always mix a small amount of the alcohol with the cream to test the same thing isn't going to happen again before you commit to mixing the whole lot.
Kelly
I made this for Thanksgiving last year and am making it again this year. It makes a really awesome coffee creamer too.
Jane Saunders
Oh wow, thanks so much Kelly for letting me know. I might have to use your idea and add some to a coffee.
Ali
Hi Jane-
Thank you so much for taking the time to calculate that for me. I'm a young students trying to make her way through the busy Christmas season with limited funds, and when I came across your recipe I couldn't think of a better idea than to gift this! Because I will be gifting them, I plan to make up the infused rum today, let it sit until Friday and then add the dairy at the last minute and keep refrigerated. Thanks again Jane, I will keep you posted on the progress. Happy Holidays
Jane Saunders
I remember those days! No problem at all - hopefully your friends will enjoy the booze and appreciate your effort.
Ali
I need help with this recipe...I'm attempting to fill 4 (four) bottles, each are roughly the size of a 26er of vodka, and am wondering how much rum to purchase...I see the recipe calls for 2 cups but only needs .5 cup when adding the liquor. Thoughts?? Help please!!
Jane Saunders
Hi there Ali - so pleased you are going to make this recipe. I'm not familiar with 26er, but have looked it up and the suggestion is that it's about 750ml, so my calculations are based on this measure... 4 x 750ml is a total of 3 litres of the ginger cream liqueur. To get this quantity, you'll need 1250ml spiced rum, plus 1250ml cream and 600ml condensed milk.
To make the spiced rum in this quantity, you'll need to make 2.5 times the recipe I've listed - so you would need:
1250ml/ 5 1/4 cups dark rum
50g/ 1 cup fresh ginger
75g (about twenty 1cm cubes) crystallised ginger
250g/ 1 1/4 cup dark muscovado sugar
25 cloves
10 inch stick cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
That should give sufficient to fill the bottles. There may be a slight amount of spare rum and a little spare liqueur once you've finished mixing everything up and filling the bottles.
Are you gifting these bottles Ali? As you'll recall from my original recipe, although the rum will keep for months, once the cream is added, the liqueur will last for approximately 2 weeks, depending on the freshness of the cream and it must be kept refrigerated. If you are gifting the bottles to people it's probably best to point this out to them so they can store it correctly.
Hope all of this information helps.
Lucy
What an amazing idea! I can almost taste it... I love cocktails, I love gingerbread, this is totally meant for me
Jane Saunders
ah, thankyou Lucy. It must be time to treat yourself.
Simon
luckily I liked your photographs so I scrolled down and found the idea for infused rum! I'm not the biggest fan of cream liqueur but Infused Rum sounds awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Jane Saunders
Brilliant - try the non-creamy infused rum. It'll blow your socks off, but in a good way. Thanks Simon.