Recipe: Viking River Cruises' Fruit Gratin with Old Rum and Celebrity Cruises’ Vanilla High Voltage

August 16 is National Rum Day, and if you are looking for a belated way to celebrate, we recommend Viking River Cruise’s Fruit Gratin with Old Rum dessert. The special ingredient is Caribbean-aged rum which is extra sweet due to being aged in oak barrels. We recommend serving this dish ala mode with a scoop of coconut sorbet. After the party, it’s the after-party, and that is when you’ll want to kick it up a notch with the Vanilla High Voltage, a brand-new cocktail that can be found in Celebrity Cruises’ Eden.

Fruit Gratin with Old Rum – Viking River Cruises

(Makes 6 Servings)

 Ingredients:

 Topping

• 2 large egg yolks
• ½ C heavy cream
• 1 C half and half
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ C sugar
• ¼ C cornstarch
• 6 large egg whites

 Filling

• 1½ C pineapple, diced
• 1½ C papaya, diced
• 1 banana, diced
• 1 mango, diced
• 4 T old rum
• 2 T light brown sugar

Directions:

• Whisk yolks in a small bowl; set aside.
• In a saucepan over medium, heat cream, half and half and vanilla until hot but not boiling; slowly pour about a quarter of cream mixture into yolks, whisking constantly, then pour the yolk and cream mixture back into remaining cream in saucepan, whisking to combine.
• Whisk in sugar and cornstarch, stirring constantly until mixture thickens, about 4 minutes.
• Transfer to a bowl; cover surface directly with plastic wrap and cool at least 10 minutes.
• Beat egg whites in a medium bowl until very stiff; then fold in cooled cream mixture.
• Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C), butter 6 shallow ovenproof dishes or a 9x11-inch baking dish and set aside. 
• Combine fruit, rum and brown sugar; divide among dessert dishes.
• Spoon cream mixture generously over top and bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes.

Vanilla High Voltage – Celebrity Cruises

 Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz vanilla vodka
• 1 oz Kahlua
• 1 oz espresso coffee
• ¼ vanilla syrup
• ¼ baileys
• 3 coffee beans

Directions:

• Add all the ingredients into a shaker.
• Add ice and shake it hard.
• Strain into a chilled glass.
• Garnish with three coffee beans.