The Sublime Sandwich
Like many people who grew up in Britain, I was introduced to liquor on my plate long before it was ever in my glass. Rich stews, casseroles, and pies braised in wine or beer and cakes, puddings, and trifles that were spiked with sherry, rum, or brandy were all standard fare in my household.
Thumb through any of the popular household management guides from the nineteenth century such as Eliza Leslie, Eliza Acton, or Isabella Beeton and you will find liberal use of hard liquor throughout the sweets chapters. Sometimes it’s just a tablespoon or two added for flavor to a dessert or sauce; other times, it’s an “at your pleasure” kind of deal, meaning make it as boozy as you want (or even not at all, if that’s what you prefer).
However, one place where liquor was never a feature in our house, that I can recall, was in a sandwich. Even during the drink-soaked seventies and eighties when TV chefs like Julia Child and Keith Floyd were getting trigger happy on TV with bottles of Cote du Rhone and Noilly Prat, I’m happy to say that a corkscrew never made an appearance in my school lunch box.
Hence while researching the life of Amy Lyman Phillips and her 1906 book, A Bachelor’s Cupboard, I was intrigued to find the recipe for a “Sublime Sandwich”, which features a spread made from rum, butter, and brown sugar seasoned with nutmeg. Amy attributes the origin of the recipe to a Canadian Mountie of English birth:
“Out in the Canadian Rockies, not many miles from Banff the Beautiful, there is a member of the Northwestern Mounted Police force, the scion of a titled English family, with a house in Belgravia and a superb estate in Cumberland, who lives the free, wild life of the hills in the new country, and lives it in preference to the hothouse existence of the London Club and the functions of Park Lane. No, I won’t tell his name, but many a delicious morsel is concocted after his day’s ride is over; and after a plunge in the hot springs and a gallop home to his shandy with his “bunkie”, a handsome six-footer from Sheffield, he has his dish of tea, and with it a sublime sandwich of his own particular variety, which his sister serves on her house-boat at Henley or during the shooting season at their Scottish castle.”
Rum Butter, and its twin sister Brandy Butter, was a delicacy I certainly grew up with in the U.K. – after all it would not be Christmas without hot Christmas Pudding and mince pies dripping with melting, boozy dairy goodness. We used to dole it out like ice cream, and also heat it up into a sauce to pour over ice cream. However, it never once occurred to me to try it out as a sandwich spread.
I recently decided to give Amy’s recipe a shot and I can confirm it makes a most uplifting afternoon treat - especially when accompanied by a similar size shot in one’s teacup. This is the kind of afternoon tea that, Amy wrote, will “reconcile a man to even the “pink” variety of afternoon teas”. Cin-cin!
A Sublime Sandwich
Amy Lyman Phillips
A Bachelor’s Cupboard, 1906
Work as much brown sugar as is needed into a bowl of butter until the butter has absorbed all that is possible, then flavor with old Jamaica rum and nutmeg until is has the desired “bouquet”. Spread on thin slices of whole wheat bread which have been thinly buttered, and make into triangular sandwiches.
RECIPE:
THE SUBLIME SANDWICH
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy
- Gradually add the brown sugar and continue to beat on medium for another 2-3 minutes until you have a light smooth texture
- With the speed on medium add the rum a few drops at a time until just incorporated and grate fresh nutmeg over the top
- Spread the rum butter thickly onto two slices of whole wheat bread and press together. Remove the crusts and slice into small fingers or triangles
- Serve with hot black Ceylon tea with an optional splash of rum
- Cover the remainder of the rum butter and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks. Bring up to room temperature for 30 minutes before using, or spoon directly onto hot desserts, cookies, or pies. Some separation of the rum is normal.