Traditional rum sauce (2024)

This traditional rum sauce is the perfect accompaniment to your Christmas Pudding. Creamy, boozy and so so moreish, it's also great with warm pies, crumbles, sponge puddings and bananas!

Why do I love rum sauce so much with Christmas pudding?

Everyone has their favourite things to eat at Christmas and their favourite accompaniments. When I was growing up my favourite part of the Christmas dinner was Christmas pudding and with it the rum sauce. Never custard, never ice cream, never even brandy butter. It had to be a traditional rum sauce.

These days I don't always see my parents on Christmas day so I don't get rum sauce every year. Being such a big fan of rum sauce I decided I would have to make it at home in preparation and of course to whet my appetite for it once Christmas does come round.

What is a traditional rum sauce?

This traditional rum sauce is basically a sweet white sauce with a dash of rum. You melt butter in a saucepan and then add some flour. You cook this stirring all the time and then start gradually stirring in the milk. You end up with a smooth and creamy white sauce. To make it a dessert sauce add some sugar and of course the rum.

Ingredients for rum sauce

You need just 5 ingredients to make this rum sauce. They are:

• Butter - Salted or unsalted
• Plain flour
• Milk - I uses semi-skimmed as that's what we have but you can use whole or skimmed even.
• Caster sugar
• Rum

Can you adapt this rum sauce recipe?

You can make the sauce more or less sweet by adjusting the amount of sugar. I would advise stirring in a little sugar at a time so you can get the right level of sweetness.

You can also adjust the amount of alcohol. If you want a super boozy sauce then just add more rum. You could also adapt it by using a different alcohol although for me, rum is best.

Can you make this rum sauce without alcohol?

If you want to make a sauce that is suitable for the whole family then you could add the sugar and then divide the sauce into two jugs. Stir a little rum into one and add some vanilla extract to the other one. If you want the rum flavour but without the rum then try adding a little rum extract instead.

The perfect sauce for a Christmas pudding

I could eat Christmas pudding all year round. I love its rich gooey stickiness. Unfortunately though, the rest of my family are not such big fans of Christmas pudding as I am. Which of course always means more for me! Yay!

This sauce is absolutely perfect served with a traditional Christmas pudding.

What did I serve this rum sauce with?

I recently received a beautiful luxury Christmas hamper from Prestige Hampers to review. I served the rum sauce with the Matthew Walker individual Christmas pudding which was in the hamper.

It was just the right size for one person and is the perfect way to get your Christmas pudding fix at any time. It was even better with the rum sauce. I don't often cook with alcohol as most of my recipes are for the kids too but this boozy sauce is unashamedly for me!

Can you prepare the rum sauce in advance?

You can but for a special meal it is best to prepare this rum sauce just before eating it. However, you can reheat it and so if you have any leftovers then just reheat it in the microwave

My First Experience of Prestige Hampers

It wasn't the first time I'd come across Prestige Hampers. Last year I wanted to send a hamper to my brother and his girlfriend. I did some research and after looking at lots of hampers I chose one from Prestige Hampers.

I remember choosing it because of the contents, the availability and the price. Unlike some companies, they have a large range of hampers so it's easy to find one that suits your budget. I was really pleased with the one I chose last year and so I was more than happy to receive a Prestige Hamper to review this year.

What was in my Prestige Hamper?

I received a luxuryFabulous Christmas Hamperand it contained the following products:

Founders Stone Merlot 187ml
Founders Stone White Zinfandel 187ml
Founders Stone Pinot Grigio 187ml
Natural Sea Salt Yorkshire Crisps 100g
Pumpkin Seed and Cranberry Biscuits for Cheese 125g
Matthew Walker Luxury Gold Christmas Pudding 100g
English Afternoon Tea 20 Teabags
Honey Blond Chocolate Bar 50g
Belgian Marc de Champagne Fancy Truffles 200g
Belgian Chocolate Caramel Thins 80g
Mackays Scottish Strawberry Preserve 113g
Mackays Dundee Orange Marmalade 113g

The contents of the hamper were beautifully packaged in a tall wicker basket and like any foodie, it was such fun to open it up and try the different foods and drink. Why doesn't anyone ever get me a hamper, I wondered?

I think a hamper makes a great Christmas gift. After all, there are not many people who don't enjoy eating, especially at Christmas!

My favourite Christmas hamper items

Aside from the Christmas pudding, I have to say that my favourite items in the hamper were the beautiful Belgian Marc de Champagne truffles. As you've probably experienced, if you buy a box of truffles you often feel you don't get very many but these truffles were spilling out of the bag and seemed to go a long way. They were smooth, chocolaty and for me at least irresistible!

I also loved the Belgian chocolate caramel thins. They are made of amazing caramel milk chocolate with little crunchy pieces of puffed rice inside. If you love chocolate, and especially milk chocolate, you'll be happy!

Of course I loved the wine and the pumpkin and cranberry biscuits for cheese were a hit with me and Little Miss Spice. I do love savoury snacks and having grown up on a farm on the Yorkshire Wolds, I was especially keen to try the Yorkshire crisps. Like me, the potatoes were grown on the Yorkshire wolds and then made into crisps and packaged in Yorkshire too!

The only thing I haven't tried yet is the tea as I am not a big tea drinker. I'll save it for someone who'll appreciate it more than I will!

If you like this rum sauce, take a look at my other Christmas recipes

Recipe

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Places I'm sharing this traditional rum sauce

Disclosure: I received a complimentary hamper for review purposes but all opinions are my own.