Christmas Spice

It’s that time of year again Christmas Fever ...it’s upon us …the stores all have enormous Christmas trees decorated to the hilt, baubles and tinsel streaming everywhere… and it’s time to think about Christmas Dinner…and what to make and if like me…you like to mix up the old tradition of turkey then you might like this recipe:

Rum and Raisin Sauce
(I know...I've started with dessert!!)


This is an 1998 Martha Stewart recipe found in one of my Martha Stewart LIVING magazines which I’ve used for years now… (I know!!!) - it’s very festive, oozes rum and great over vanilla ice cream….because it’s an American recipe, I’ve adapted it to UK so you don’t have problems finding ‘corn syrup’ etc…so this is my take on it:

½ cup dark brown sugar (Muscovado sugar)
1/2 cup corn syrup (UK golden syrup)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

¼ cup dark rum

¼ cup golden raisins

¼ cup dark raisins

I usually soak the raisins in the rum and leave to stand for about 2 hours so that the raisins absorb some of the rum.


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In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar and golden syrup.  Set over medium to low heat and stir until well combined and the sugar has melted.

Remove from the heat, add the butter, rum and raisins, stirring until the butter has completely melted and the raisins are plump and juicy. Serve the sauce warm or at room temperature over the ice cream.

It keeps really well and can even be frozen a couple of weeks before Christmas and reheated to serve warm.

It makes a great home made Christmas gift too!


(Don't you just love these little jars - I found them at The Hambledon in Winchester)

Bon Apetite!