Raise a toast to September 20th, National Rum Punch Day. Punch is a general term for a broad assortment of mixed drinks, made with or without alcohol. The drink originated on the Indian Subcontinent, and was called paantsch.

The word “punch” derives from that Hindi word, also spelled panch, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit panchan, meaning five. In India, panch was made from five different ingredients: sugar, lemon, water, tea or spices, and an alcoholic spirit; hence the name.

Punch was “discovered” in India by the British sailors of the East India Company. The concept was brought to England in the early 17th century.

From there it spread to other countries. While Western punch recipes generally contain fruit or fruit juice, fruit isn’t essential.

Nor is an elegant punch bowl required: A pitcher is fine, and in many cases, it’s more practical.

We’ve got a number of rum punch recipes for you, starting with two from Hawaii’s Koloa Rum.

Rum is a New World product. It wasn’t until 1655 when Jamaican rum was introduced to make punch, that the rum punch was born.

The first two recipes have a Hawaiian twist. They’re made with Koloa Rum, which is distilled on the island of Kauai from pure cane sugar and Hawaiian mountain rainwater.

You can find more drink recipes the on Koloa Rum website.
 
 
RECIPE #1: WATERMELON RUM PUNCH
 
Ingredients For 2 Drinks

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the watermelon, lime juice from 1 lime, and the sugar in a blender, and blend until liquid.

2. MUDDLE the mint and juice from 1/2 lime in a cocktail shaker. Add the rum, watermelon mixture, and ice.

3. SHAKE well and strain into rocks glasses over fresh ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a lime wheel, fresh mint, and a watermelon wedge.
 
 
RECIPE #2: SPICED PINEAPPLE RUM PUNCH

You’ll fill up a 64-ounce pitcher with this recipe, which makes 60 ounces of punch.
 
 
Ingredients For A Party Pitcher

 
Preparation

In advance, chill all the ingredients (except the bitters), as well as the pitcher (64 ounces or more).

1. MAKE the rim sugar. Combine ground cinnamon with sugar in a ratio of 1:4. Dip the rims of tall glasses into a saucer of water, then twist them in a saucer of cinnamon sugar.

2. COMBINE all of the drink ingredients in the pitcher and stir thoroughly to combine.

3. ADD ice to the glasses and fill them with the punch.
 
 
MORE PUNCH RECIPES

 
 
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*Look for a pineapple with nice leaves for garnishing. You can substitute basil, rosemary, or thyme leaves.

[1] Recipe #1: Watermelon rum punch (all photos © Koloa Rum).

[2] Recipe #2: Spiced rum and white rum combine with pineapple and orange juices.

[3] Koloa White Rum.

[4] Koloa Spiced Rum.

[5] Koloa also sells a bottled Rum Punch.

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[1] Use extra virgin olive oil for much more than salad dressing (photos #1 © Flavor Your Life).

[2] Brush the grill, and your food, with EVOO (photo © California Olive Ranch).

[3] Bake super-moist cakes with EVOO. Here’s the recipe (photo © Lucero Olive Oil [now closed]).

[4] EVOO adds extra creaminess to already-creamy ice cream. Here’s the recipe (photo © Local Food Rocks).

[6] Dip bread in olive oil. It’s delicious as well as good for you. Butter is delicious, but not good for you (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

[7] Poach fish in olive oil. Here’s the recipe for this poached salmon (photo © Pom Wonderful).

[8] Make a pesto for pasta, or just use the olive oil as your sauce. Here’s the recipe for this casarecce pasta with broccoli rabe and pesto (photo © Love & Olive Oil).

Thanks to California Olive Ranch, producer of extra virgin olive oils, for our Tip Of The Day: baking, cooking and grilling with EVOO. Extra virgin olive oil is one of the best oils to cook with. Use it for baking, frying, poaching, sautéing and finishing. Extra virgin olive oil holds up well under high temperatures, and brings a uniquely nuanced flavor profile to your dish. Plus, its health benefits, including heart healthiness, are terrific.

Plan ahead for these olive oil and olive holidays:

 
> The history of olive oil.

> The different types of olive oil: a photo glossary.
 
 
GRILLING WITH EVOO

It’s a common misconception that olive oil’s smoke point is too low for grilling. That may be true of much grocery store olive oil, but high quality EVOO has a smoke point of more than 425°F.

A grill’s temperature is 400-450°F for high heat, 350-400°F for medium-high, 300-350°F for medium, and 250-300°F for low heat.

Extra virgin olive oil is some of the freshest and highest-quality oil available among cooking oil. All those antioxidants help it hold its form at higher temperatures.

Lower quality olive oils such as virgin olive oil or simply “olive oil”, on the other hand, have a high free fatty acid content and will smoke at a lower temperature (the different types of olive oil).

Brush the grill. A light brushing of EVOO on the grill will do wonders in keeping your foods from sticking. Just don’t get heavy handed: You don’t want oil dripping into the flames.

Mist your meats and seafood. Use an EVOO spray several times as they are grilling. This creates a glaze and adds yet another layer of flavor.

Instead of a spray, dip herbs in EVOO. Tie together a bunch of fresh rosemary or thyme, and use it as a brush to baste your foods with olive oil as they grill. It will infuse your food with flavor as it grill. Alternatively, you can tie fresh herbs onto your basting brush and infuse their flavor that way.
 
 
COOKING WITH EVOO

A staple in your kitchen, EVOO is versatile and useful for many purposes beyond grilling. Some key uses:

 
 
BAKING WITH EVOO

Baking with extra virgin olive oil is a sure way to add complexity of flavor and more moisture to baked goods.

Here are the benefits of baking with olive oil instead of butter.

For starters, it’s a great way to reduce the amount of saturated fat in of your favorite treats.

Baking with extra virgin olive oil is easy with this conversion chart.

You can even make olive oil ice cream! Here’s a recipe.
 
 
FRYING WITH EVOO

A long-standing myth is that olive oil’s smoke point can’t stand up to the high heat required for frying.

High-quality extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point upwards of 425°F, well above the ideal frying temperature of around 350°F.

A general rule of thumb: the higher the quality and the fresher an oil is, the higher the smoke point will be.

Lower quality olive oils such as virgin or crude, on the other hand, have a high free fatty acid content and will smoke at a lower temperature

 
 
MORE ABOUT OLIVE OIL

 
OLIVE OIL RECIPES

 
 
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*The grades of olive oil based on levels of acidity: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Virgin Olive Oil, Lampante Virgin Olive Oil, Refined Olive Oil, Refined Pomace Olive Oil, Olive Oil and Pomace Olive Oil. Each type has a different smoke oil. Unless labeled Extra Virgin, a grocery store olive oil brand is typically Refined Olive Oil or Olive Oil.

Some grocery store brands labeled Olive Oil, Cooking Olive Oil or Pure Olive Oil. Pure olive oil is not at all pure: It’s a portion of Extra Virgin or Virgin Olive Oil blended with Refined Olive Oil. The blending method is often used when the extraction quality of the Refined Olive Oil is not as good as expected. In order to improve the quality, the refined oil has to be mixed with a better quality one for better flavor [source].

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You don’t have to be a student to enjoy Hannah Kaminsky’s eighth vegan recipe book, The Student Vegan Cookbook (see all eight below).

Anyone who has a tight budget, a crazy-busy schedule, and limited kitchen equipment can make amazing vegan meals, snacks and treats.

The Student Vegan Cookbook shows you how, with tips, tricks, and hacks for dormitory-room and small-kitchen cooking.

There are lots of creative, nutritious, and delectable recipes spanning the whole day, from rushing-off-to-class quick-fix breakfasts to midnight treats for chilling and unwinding.

Award-winning vegan blogger Hannah Kaminsky has walked the walk, cooking delicious meals for herself and her roommates during her own college years.

Fast-forward a few years: Hannah is now a professional food writer and photographer who has created a stunning book full of truly scrumptious, easy-to-make, 100% vegan recipes.
 
 
WHAT’S IN THE STUDENT VEGAN COOKBOOK

There are 85 yummy recipes, each with its own beautiful photograph. They include:

 
Whether you’re a vegan, a vegetarian or simply an omnivore who wants to eat healthier…

Whether you live at home, in your own apartment or in a dorm…

You’ll kick your cooking and eating game up to the next level with this inventive and incredibly useful book.

Stock up for holiday gifts!

Get your copy wherever fine books are sold; Amazon links to Hannah’s cookbooks are below.

Order directly from Hannah’s website if you’d like a personalized signed copy.

MORE NEW RECIPES: Sign up for Hannah’s blog to get her latest vegan recipes.
 

VEGAN COOKBOOKS, WRITTEN & BEAUTIFULLY PHOTOGRAPHED BY HANNAH KAMINSKY

 
 
VEGAN, VEGETARIAN…WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Check out the differences between:

[1] Hot off the presses: The Student Vegan Cookbook. For a personalized copy, head here (all photos © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[2] Another Kaminsky cookbook, featuring vegan meals ready in 10 minutes or less.

[3] Ice cream fans will love this book of plant-based frozen desserts.

[4] With the holidays not far away, this peppermint roulade from Super Vegan Scoops.

[1] Butterscotch pudding topped with vanilla bean pudding, and a garnish of butterscotch sauce, whipped cream and chocolate chips (photo © Bruna Branco | Unsplash).

[2] Butterscotch pudding with chocolate flecks (photo © Duard van der Westhuizen | iStock Photo).

[3] Butterscotch pudding topped with pieces of chocolate almond bark (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[4] Butterscotch pudding topped with toasted coconut and torched meringue (photo © Frontera Grill | Chicago).

[5] Turn your butterscotch pudding into a work of art (photo © Taylor Kiser | Unsplash).

September 19th is National Butterscotch Pudding Day. The butterscotch pudding recipes are below, but there would be no such recipes if it were not for butterscotch candy.

Butterscotch was invented in England, as a hard candy. It is often credited to Samuel Parkinson, a confectioner in Doncaster, a town in Yorkshire, in Northern England. Parkinson began making the candy in 1817, and the brand still exists.

Other local confectioners followed suit, and the town became famous for its butterscotch candy, known as Doncaster butterscotch.

An 1848 issue of the “Liverpool Mercury” gave the recipe for “Doncaster butterscotch” as “one pound of butter, one pound of sugar and a quarter of a pound of treacle*, boiled together” [source].

We don’t know if the Liverpool Mercury meant brown sugar, but the signature flavor of butterscotch comes from brown sugar, not white sugar. (Look at the ingredients of today’s butterscotch and you’ll also find corn syrup†, vanilla or other flavors, and water.)

To make butterscotch sauce, the butter and brown sugar are mixed with cream. How about some butterscotch sauce with your butterscotch pudding? Check out photo #1.

Below are:

> Butterscotch pudding recipes.

> The history of butterscotch pudding.
 
 
Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The difference between butterscotch, caramel and toffee.

> The year’s 17 pudding and custard holidays.

> The history of pudding.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING

The original English puddings were savory, boiled puddings containing meat. By the latter half of the 18th century, traditional English puddings no longer included meat; they were still boiled or steamed, even baked. The finished product was cake-like (like plum pudding).

Our creamy American puddings, though very different from what the British call pudding, descend from this tradition of steaming sweet ingredients.

Here’s more history of pudding.

American colonists continued the English tradition of baking sweet puddings. The earliest print reference, for chocolate pudding, is 1730. Chocolate custard, a thick creamy cousin, dates to the 19th century. These sweets were enjoyed by wealthy people [source].

In 1837 in Birmingham, England, chemist Alfred Bird invented custard powder for his wife who couldn’t eat eggs. He began marketing it across the U.K. in 1844.

Not long afterward the product arrived in the U.S., and Americans began to use it as an alternative to egg thickeners. It wasn’t long before American cooks started to use custard powder and other cornstarch derivatives as thickeners for custard-type desserts.

> The different types of custard.

Creamy American puddings evolved from these. We don’t know when butterscotch pudding joined the American pudding lineup (most likely vanilla and chocolate were first). It will take someone with access to cookbooks of the 19th century to do some research.

From whence came the word “butterscotch?” No one knows for certain, but here are three explanations:

 
> The difference between custard and pudding.

 
BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING RECIPES

TIP: When you make butterscotch pudding, you can add a teaspoon of bourbon or Scotch for a sophisticated undertone.

 
Plus, relatives of butterscotch pudding:

*Treacle is another term for golden syrup, made from partly refined sugar; molasses. Golden syrup is light treacle, a thick, amber-colored syrup. There is also dark treacle, with a stronger flavor. In the U.S. it is known as blackstrap molasses.

†The difference between corn syrup and golden syrup: While both are similar in color, they are very different products. Corn syrup is made from corn(starch), whereas golden syrup is made from sugar. Corn syrup has a very mild flavor, whereas golden syrup has a more pronounced buttery caramel flavor.

Corn syrup is an invert sugar, which means that it prevents sugar crystals from forming. The process to make corn syrup from cornstarch was invented in 1811 by a German chemist, Gottlieb Kirchhoff.

Invert sugar syrup, also called invert syrup and invert sugar, is a mixture of two simple sugars (glucose and fructose) that is made by heating sucrose with water.
 
 

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[1] Red velvet layer cake. Here’s the recipe (photo © McCormick).

[2] Red velvet bundt cake in Nordicware’s “Stained Glass” design (photo © Nordicware).

[3] Red velvet pancakes. Here’s the recipe (photo © Taste Of Home).

[5] Red velvet donuts. Here’s the recipe (photo © Farmgirl Gourmet).

September 18th is National Red Velvet Cake Day, and we’ve got a bunch of red velvet cake recipes for you, below. But first, here’s the history of the cake, which grew to immense popularity over the last two decades, after gathering dust in many a recipe box.

If you want to order a red velvet cake, the best one we’ve had is from Daisy Cakes.

We used this food holiday as an excuse to order another one.

The history of red velvet cake follows, but first:

> The year’s 55 cake holidays.

> The history of cake and the different types of cake: a photo glossary.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF RED VELVET CAKE

“The history of red velvet is not black and white,” says Deborah Harroun, author of Red Velvet Lover’s Cookbook.

Stories detail its discovery in the 1870s in Canada and in the 1950s in Pennsylvania. Some give credit to the Deep South, where red velvet cake is topped with cream cheese frosting.

Southern Living Magazine says it isn’t Southern at all, that it started as Waldorf Astoria cake. The backstory, says the magazine, is that someone got charged a mint for the hotel’s recipe and then shared it for revenge [source].

Originally made from beets or beet juice and cocoa (and the best recipes still use these ingredients), the cake yields a reddish brown color with a mild chocolate flavor.

Today’s recipes made with red food coloring can be a florid red. A thick white frosting is traditional (we vote for cream cheese!).

Today, many recipes use red food color instead of beets, which leaves a rosy red and arresting color but a more bland flavor and texture. A light-textured chocolate layer-type cake with a deep reddish brown color.
 
 
SHOULD RED VELVET HAVE CHOCOLATE FLAVOR?

Our first experience with red velvet cake, long before the craze of the last decade, was a type of chocolate cake with red food coloring. Our mom baked a recipe called Red Devil’s Food Cake from the 1950s, where the chocolate cake had a red hue.

Mom used beets in her Red Devil’s Food Cake. And what a great cake it was! We’ll have to dig up the recipe and publish it.

But think again, says Deborah Harroun: “The cocoa taste actually appears as just a hint when done correctly. I say that a red velvet cake or cupcakes tastes like butter cake with just a hint of cocoa. It may be a hard flavor to describe, but once you’ve had it, you probably won’t forget it!”

While many committed bakers deride red velvet for its use of “fake” red food coloring, there are natural ingredients that can be used to achieve the same red hue: cranberries, other red berries, and pomegranates.
 
 
MORE RED VELVET RECIPES

 
 
> CAKE GLOSSARY: THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CAKES
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF CHEESECAKE

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