Queen Bee Mojito

Camper English uses honey to flavor this combination of three classic cocktails in one glass: the Air Mail (rum, honey, citrus, and Champagne), the Champagne Cocktail, and the Mojito.
Look for the classic mojito recipe as well as dozens more classic cocktails on our Drinks & Entertaining page.

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  1 fl. oz. (2 Tbs.) honey syrup
  
  


• 
  
  1/2 fl. oz. (1 Tbs.) fresh lime juice
  
  


• 
  
  4 large mint leaves; plus sprigs for garnish
  
  


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  1 fl. oz. (2 Tbs.) aged dark rum, such as Matusalem Classico or Cruzan Single Barrel
  
  


• 
  
  1 dash Angostura bitters
  
  


• 
  
  1 fl. oz. (2 Tbs.) chilled sparkling dry wine, such as Chandon California Brut Classic
  
  

Put the honey syrup, lime juice, and mint in a chilled cocktail shaker. Press (don’t pulverize) the mint with a muddler or wooden spoon until fragrant. Add the rum and bitters and fill the shaker with ice. Put the lid on the shaker and make sure you have a tight seal. Shake as hard as you can for about 10 seconds and then strain into a chilled small coupe. Add the sparkling wine and garnish with a mint sprig.

To make honey syrup

Combine equal parts of your favorite honey and boiling water and stir to dissolve. Let cool completely before using. Store in the refrigerator between uses for up to 1 month.

Watermelon Mojito

If a standard-issue mojito weren't refreshing enough, one with muddled watermelon in the minty mix shoots it right off the charts. Hot summer weekend, sun beginning to set, backyard, friends. You get the picture.

• 
  
  8 large sprigs of fresh mint
  
  


• 
  
  4 cups cubed seedless watermelon (3/4-inch cubes are perfect here)
  
  


• 
  
  1/2 cup Simple Syrup
  
  


• 
  
  Ice cubes (you'll need about  2 quarts)
  
  


• 
  
  2 cups white rum (I like D'Aristi rum from Yucatan)
  
  


• 
  
  1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  
  


• 
  
   Sparkling water or club soda
  
  

Tip:

You need about 3 pounds of watermelon to yield the 4 cups of fruit you need for these drinks.

Set out eight tall 12-ounce glasses. Put the leaves stripped off a single sprig of mint into each glass--you'll need about 10 leaves for each drink--and top with 1/2  cup watermelon cubes. Divide the Simple Syrup among the glasses (1 Tbs. - 1/2 fl. oz. per glass). Use a muddler (or the handle of a wooden spoon or a long-handle ice tea spoon, though neither is anywhere near as effective) to crush the mint and watermelon, releasing their flavor into the syrup--the more muddling, the fuller the flavors. Fill each glass with ice. Measure in the rum (1/4 cup - 2 fl. oz. per glass) and the lime juice (1 Tbs. - 1/2 fl. oz. per glass). Use a long-handle ice tea spoon to mix everything together. Top off each glass with a little sparkling water or soda and you're ready to serve.

Pear Ginger Cake with Whipped Cream and Rum-Caramel Glaze

It’s a triple-decker stunner that features a soft, tender cake with fresh pears and homemade ginger folded into the batter, and a billowy whipped cream filling and frosting. All is topped with luscious rum-caramel glaze.

For the cake

• 
  
  12 oz. (1-1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened; more for the pans
  
  


• 
  
  1 lb. 2 oz. (4 cups) all-purpose flour
  
  


• 
  
  4-1/2 tsp. baking powder
  
  


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  1 tsp. kosher salt
  
  


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  3 cups granulated sugar
  
  


• 
  
  6 large eggs, at room temperature
  
  


• 
  
  3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
  
  


• 
  
  1 lb. firm-ripe Anjou or Bartlett pears (about 2 small pears), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
  
  


• 
  
  5 oz. (1 cup) finely chopped Candied Ginger 
  
  


• 
  
  1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
  
  

For the caramel glaze

• 
  
  1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
  
  


• 
  
  1/4 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  
  


• 
  
  1-1/2 oz. (3 Tbs.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  
  


• 
  
  3/4 cup heavy cream
  
  


• 
  
  1-1/2 Tbs. dark rum
  
  


• 
  
  Pinch of kosher salt
  
  

For the whipped cream

• 
  
  6 cups heavy cream
  
  


• 
  
  7 oz. (2 cups) confectioners’ sugar
  
  


• 
  
  2-1/2 oz. (1/2 cup) coarsely chopped Candied Ginger for garnish
  
  

Make the cake

Position racks in the bottom and top thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F.


Butter three 9x2-inch round cake pans and line each with a parchment round. Butter the parchment.


In a large bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, and salt.


Using stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition.


On low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three increments, alternating with the milk in two increments, starting and ending with the flour. Beat on low speed between each addition until just incorporated. The batter will be thick and fluffy. Stir in the pears, candied ginger, and vanilla.


Divide the batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Level the batter with a spatula. Set two pans on the top rack and the third on the lower rack. Stagger the pans on the oven racks so that no pan is directly over another. Bake, swapping and rotating the pans’ positions after 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool on racks for 30 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the racks, remove the parchment, and cool completely.

Make the caramel glaze

Fill a cup measure with water and put a pastry brush in it. In a heavy-duty 3-quart saucepan, stir the sugar, lemon juice, and 1/3 cup cold water. Brush down the sides of the pan to wash away any sugar crystals. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, occasionally brushing down the sides of the pan, until the mixture starts to color around the edges, 5 to 8 minutes. Gently swirl the pan once to even out the color and prevent the sugar from burning in isolated spots so that the sugar caramelizes evenly. Brush down the sides of the pan if the sugar threatens to burn. Continue to cook until the sugar turns medium amber, about 30 seconds more. (Once the mixture begins to color, it will darken very quickly so keep an eye on it.)


Reduce the heat to low and carefully stir in the butter. It will bubble up. Keep stirring until the bubbles settle down, then add the cream a couple of tablespoons at a time, stirring to combine after each addition. Continue stirring until the caramel is smooth, about 2 minutes.


Remove from the heat and stir in the rum and salt. Strain the caramel through a fine sieve into a heatproof measuring cup to remove any small pieces of sugar. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. You should have about 1-2/3 cups.

Make the whipped cream

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and a cold bowl, whip the cream on medium speed until it starts to thicken, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar, raise the speed to medium high, and continue to whip until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes more. Raise the speed to high until the cream forms stiff peaks and is very thick, about 30 seconds more.

Assemble the cake

Put a cake layer on a flat serving platter or a cake stand lined with strips of waxed paper to keep it clean while icing. Top the layer with 2 cups of the whipped cream, spreading it evenly with a metal cake spatula almost to the cake’s edge. Put the next cake layer over the filling and spread 2 more cups of the whipped cream over it. Top with the last cake layer and thickly coat the sides and top of the cake with the remaining whipped cream. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes.

Glaze the cake

Slowly pour the glaze over the top of the cake, making sure that it covers the top and drizzles down the sides (some of the whipped cream frosting should show through the drizzles on the sides).


Press the coarsely chopped candied ginger pieces in a 1-inch band around the base of the cake for decoration. Remove the waxed paper strips.


Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours before serving.