Nassau Royale

Ingredients

What to buy

• Nassau Royale liqueur
• golden, vanilla-scented
• sold in Bahamian liquor stores
• see the note on why no method is given

To serve

• over ice, in a small glass
• or poured over vanilla ice cream
• or in coffee

To use in cooking

• in guava duff sauce
• over bread pudding
• in a rum cake soak
• see the note on alcohol in cooking

To mix

• with rum
• pineapple juice
• lime
• cream, for a dessert drink

Directions

1. Nassau Royale is a golden Bahamian liqueur.
2. It tastes of vanilla and warm spice.
3. It is sipped, poured over desserts and stirred into sauce.
4. Now to an honest statement, which comes first.
5. This entry gives no method for making Nassau Royale.
6. The atlas states that plainly.
7. Now to the reason. It is a proprietary liqueur.
8. The formula belongs to its producer.
9. Any home version would be an invented drink wearing the name.
10. The atlas states that plainly.
11. Now to a note about that. This is the same position the atlas takes on Kinnie, Kofola, Rivella and Cockta.
12. A trade secret is a trade secret.
13. The atlas will not guess at one.
14. The atlas states that plainly.
15. Now to a second point. A liqueur of this kind is built on a distilled base.
16. The atlas does not carry distilling instructions.
17. The atlas states that plainly.
18. Now to a fair qualification. Infusing a bought spirit is a different thing.
19. That is legal and it is done at home.
20. The atlas records that plainly.
21. Now to what follows from that.
22. You could infuse a rum with vanilla and spice.
23. It would be a pleasant drink. It would not be Nassau Royale.
24. The atlas says that rather than pretending otherwise.
25. Now to what the atlas gives instead.
26. It records what the liqueur is.
27. It records what it is used for, which is the interesting part.
28. That is the honest thing to give.
29. The atlas states that plainly.
30. Now to an honest note about attribution.
31. The liqueur has long been produced in Nassau.
32. Ownership of drinks brands changes.
33. The atlas does not assert who currently produces it.
34. It would rather say nothing than say something wrong.
35. The atlas states that plainly.
36. Now to what it is like. It is golden and it is sweet.
37. Vanilla leads. There is warm spice behind it.
38. The atlas records that plainly.
39. Now to the strength. It is a liqueur rather than a spirit.
40. It is weaker than rum and much sweeter.
41. The atlas records that plainly.
42. Now to a note about that. That sweetness is why it works on desserts.
43. It behaves more like a sauce than a drink.
44. The atlas records that plainly.
45. Now to guava duff, which is the real reason to know about it.
46. Guava duff is the Bahamian dessert.
47. The atlas holds a separate entry for it.
48. The atlas cross-references rather than repeating.
49. Now to what it is, briefly. Guava is rolled into a dough and steamed or boiled.
50. It is sliced to show a spiral.
51. It is served with a sweet butter sauce.
52. The atlas records that plainly.
53. Now to the sauce. That sauce is butter, sugar, egg and alcohol.
54. Rum or Nassau Royale is what goes in.
55. The atlas records that plainly.
56. Now to why this liqueur suits it.
57. The vanilla and spice run with the guava.
58. It is sweeter than rum, so the sauce needs less sugar.
59. The atlas records that plainly.
60. Now to a genuinely important point about that sauce.
61. The traditional sauce contains raw or barely cooked egg.
62. The atlas states that plainly.
63. Now to what that means. Raw egg carries a salmonella risk.
64. Alcohol does not make it safe.
65. The atlas states that firmly. Now to who should be careful.
66. Anyone pregnant, very young, elderly or immunocompromised.
67. Those groups are advised to avoid raw egg.
68. The atlas records that as standard public health guidance.
69. Now to the practical answers. Use pasteurised egg.
70. Or cook the sauce gently to a custard rather than leaving it raw.
71. Or use a butter and sugar sauce with no egg at all.
72. The atlas records those plainly.
73. Now to a note about that. Some countries run egg vaccination schemes that lower the risk.
74. Advice differs between countries.
75. The atlas records that the difference exists.
76. Now to other uses. It is poured over vanilla ice cream.
77. It goes over bread pudding. It soaks a rum cake.
78. It goes into coffee. The atlas records that plainly.
79. Now to a note about cooking with alcohol.
80. Cooking does not remove all the alcohol.
81. The atlas states that plainly.
82. Now to the detail. How much remains depends on the heat, the time and the surface area.
83. A sauce flamed briefly retains a good deal.
84. A long simmer removes much more.
85. A cold poured sauce retains all of it.
86. The atlas records that as fact.
87. Now to what follows. Say plainly that a dish contains alcohol.
88. Anyone avoiding it should be told.
89. That includes children, drivers, and anyone abstaining for any reason.
90. The atlas states that plainly.
91. Now to drinking it. It is sipped over ice in a small glass.
92. It is a dessert drink rather than an aperitif.
93. The atlas records that plainly.
94. Now to mixing it. It goes into rum drinks as the sweet element.
95. It replaces sugar syrup in a punch.
96. It works with cream for a dessert cocktail.
97. The atlas records that plainly.
98. Now to a practical note. Use it in place of sugar syrup, not alongside it.
99. Otherwise the drink is cloying.
100. The atlas states that plainly.
101. Now to alcohol generally. This is an alcoholic drink.
102. The atlas states that plainly and without moralising.
103. Now to who should not drink it.
104. Anyone pregnant should not drink alcohol.
105. Anyone driving should not. Anyone who does not want to should not be pressed.
106. The atlas states that plainly and moves on.
107. Now to a note about sweet drinks specifically.
108. Sweet liqueurs are easy to drink quickly.
109. The sugar hides the alcohol. The atlas states that plainly.
110. Now to keeping it. It keeps for years unopened.
111. An opened bottle keeps months.
112. Sugar and alcohol both preserve it.
113. Keep it upright, away from light and heat.
114. It does not improve in the bottle.
115. The atlas states that plainly.

Technique

• The atlas gives no method because Nassau Royale is a proprietary liqueur whose formula belongs to its producer — any home version would be an invented drink wearing the name. That is the same position taken on Kinnie, Kofola, Rivella and Cockta.
• Infusing a bought spirit is legal and done at home, and you could infuse a rum with vanilla and spice into something pleasant — but it would not be this. The atlas says so rather than pretending otherwise.
• The atlas does not assert who currently produces it. It has long been made in Nassau, ownership of drinks brands changes, and the atlas would rather say nothing than say something wrong.
• The traditional guava duff sauce contains raw or barely cooked egg, which carries a salmonella risk that alcohol does not remove. Use pasteurised egg, cook it gently to a custard, or make a butter and sugar sauce with no egg — and note that anyone pregnant, very young, elderly or immunocompromised is advised to avoid raw egg. Advice differs between countries, some of which run egg vaccination schemes that lower the risk.
• Cooking does not remove all the alcohol. How much remains depends on heat, time and surface area: a briefly flamed sauce retains a good deal, a long simmer removes much more, and a cold poured sauce retains all of it. Say plainly that a dish contains alcohol so anyone avoiding it can decline.
• Use it in place of sugar syrup in a drink rather than alongside it, or the result is cloying.
• It is much sweeter and weaker than rum, which is why it behaves more like a sauce than a drink and why a sauce made with it needs less sugar.
• Sweet liqueurs are easy to drink quickly because the sugar hides the alcohol.
• Do not drink alcohol if you are pregnant or driving.
• It keeps for years unopened and months once opened — sugar and alcohol both preserve it — but it does not improve in the bottle. Store it upright, away from light and heat.

Substitutions

• A vanilla-forward rum liqueur substitutes in cooking.
• Dark rum with a split vanilla pod and a little sugar syrup approximates the role, not the drink.
• Any aged rum works in guava duff sauce, with more sugar.
• Amaretto or a spiced liqueur substitutes at the cost of the vanilla character.
• Vanilla extract and sugar syrup make the non-alcoholic version of the sauce.
• Falernum brings a different but comparable spiced sweetness to a rum drink.

Variations

• Guava duff sauce is its best-known use.
• Poured over vanilla ice cream it needs nothing else.
• Stirred into coffee it makes a Bahamian nightcap.
• A cream cocktail with rum turns it into a dessert drink.
• Bread pudding soaked with it is a common island dessert.
• In a rum punch it replaces the sugar syrup.

History

A Bahamian liqueur long made in Nassau and used in the island’s guava duff sauce and cocktails.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nassau Royale?

Nassau Royale is a wine & spirit from Bahamas: golden vanilla and spice liqueur, sipped over ice or poured on desserts. A Bahamian liqueur long made in Nassau and used in the island’s guava duff sauce and cocktails.

How long does Nassau Royale take to make?

Nassau Royale takes 2 minutes of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes buy by the bottle. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Nassau Royale?

Yes, within limits. A vanilla-forward rum liqueur substitutes in cooking. Dark rum with a split vanilla pod and a little sugar syrup approximates the role, not the drink. Any aged rum works in guava duff sauce, with more sugar. Amaretto or a spiced liqueur substitutes at the cost of the vanilla character. Vanilla extract and sugar syrup make the non-alcoholic version of the sauce. Falernum brings a different but comparable spiced sweetness to a rum drink.

What is the most important thing to get right in Nassau Royale?

Or cook the sauce gently to a custard rather than leaving it raw.