Hot buttered rum with apple cider made with homemade apple cider and a spiced compound butter. This cocktail is a sensory experience that is perfect for guests at your Christmas party or just to cozy up with on a cold day.
How to Make Hot Buttered Rum with Apple Cider
To make this hot buttered rum with apple cider cocktail, you can do it one of two ways.  One, fill a glass with steaming apple cider, add a knob of butter batter and a shot of rum.  Stir and serve. OR… Once you are done brewing your apple cider, measure some and put it in a slow cooker.  Put in about 1/2 tsp of the butter batter and 1 to 2 oz rum for every cup of cider. Either way, for a Christmas party you could have the apple cider simmering away in a crock pot and the smell will fill your whole house!  Your guests will be in the Christmas spirit as soon as they step through the door 🙂Other Holiday Cocktails You Might Enjoy
Hot Buttered Rum with Apple Cider
Ingredients
FOR THE APPLE CIDER
- 12 apples , quartered (gala or Fuji)
- 2 oranges , quartered
- 4 or 5 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tbsp cloves
- 2 whole nutmeg , or 1 tsp ground
- 1 tbsp allspice berries , or 1 tsp ground
- 3 or 4 star annise
- 1 vanilla bean , sliced in half
- 16 cups water
SPICED BUTTER BATTER
- 1/2 c butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp coarse salt
FOR THE COCKTAIL
- 2 oz rum
- 1/2 - 1 tsp butter batter
- 4 - 6 oz hot apple cider
Instructions
FOR THE APPLE CIDER
- Wash apples and the oranges, and then roughly cut into quarters. (Don't worry about removing peels, seeds, or stems.) Place in a big pot over medium heat. Add the cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, star annise, and halved vanilla bean.
- Add the water and bring to a boil then turn down the heat. Simmer on med-low for 3 hours.
- About an hour before the cider is done cooking, use a potato masher (or tongs or the side of a spoon) to mash the apple and orange slices once they are soft. Finish cooking for one more hour.
- When its done, strain through a cheese cloth and squeeze the apples in the cheese cloth to get maximum flavor from the apples.
FOR THE BUTTER BATTER
- Add all the spices and sugar to the soft butter and mix well. Put the butter mixture on a piece of cling wrap and mold it into a log shape. Wrap it tightly and place in the fridge or freezer to harden a little bit.
MAKE THE COCKTAIL
- Pour the rum and butter batter into a mug and fill with hot apple cider. Stir and serve!
traci | vanilla and bean says
I can see why you two would be flippin out over this one! Delicious work… I would love to try this in a small batch for a quiet evening in front of the fire. Looking forward to this one ladies… AND pinning it to my Adult Beverages board!
Julie and Debbie says
Yes Traci! I have been having one most nights after dinner. So cozy!
Bruce says
Hello again Ladies,
Following on the heels of your smash hit Eggnog-Rum-Kahlúa concoction, this should be the perfect drink for my Christmas get together! 🙂
We’ll be serving fun finger foods, dips and spreads, as well as some serious finger licking barbecued ribs. So, homemade cider would be a delicious complement to the meal. I’m thinking of a crockpot of your buttered rum cider simmering in the corner. The cabin should be filled with a wonderful aroma. 🙂
But, does it matter a lot what kind of apples and oranges are used?
Bruce
Julie and Debbie says
Hi Bruce! Your Christmas party is going to smell amazing! It doesn’t matter a lot what kind of apples or oranges, however I would choose a sweeter apple like a gala or Fuji or something over granny smith. We chose sweeter apples so that we didn’t have to add any sugar.
Cali says
I can not wait to try this. Last year xmas eve my niece’s mother in law made a gallon of this. Omg! Haven’t stop talking about it or thinking about it. I had never had it before and want it to taste exactly the same so i will be bringing my own. I think your recipe is going to have me not sharing much of that gallon. Thank you for sharing.
Julie and Debbie says
Hi Cali! I so hope that this tastes just like you remember or better 🙂
Bruce says
Cali,
Thank you for sharing this anecdote… I was concerned that a gallon might be too much for six of us but from what you say I don’t think we’ll have trouble finishing it 🙂
Thx
Bruce
Julie and Debbie says
With 6 of you? Nope, no problem finishing off a gallon at all. 🙂