The beginning of December is a great time to start thinking about holiday parties. It might be fun this year to serve punch as a beverage this year. Typically, we don’t have a lot of recipes at AnswerLine, but we do have quite a few punch recipes in the AnswerLine files. I thought it might be fun to share them with you.
These punch recipes will go great with most foods. They will be delicious with both sweets and savory foods.
If you are using a punch bowl, you may want make your own ice ring. We suggest that you use some of the punch to make the rings. Then, when the ring melts it does not water down your punch like a ring made of water. If you wish a clear water ice ring, allow the water to set 10-15 minutes before putting it into the freezer. Loosen your ice ring by running water over the metal ring. Then slip your ring into a plastic bag. This will make placing it into the bowl much easier, and less messy.
CRANBERRY PUNCH 8 servings
1 1/4 qt. cranberry juice cocktail
2 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon, 2 inches
1 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 cup water
2 cups club soda
Heat 1 cup cranberry juice with spices. Simmer, covered 5 minutes. Remove spices. Add remaining cranberry, orange juice and water. Chill. Add club soda just before serving.
RASPBERRY PUNCH Yield: 2 1/2 quarts
2 pkgs. frozen raspberries or strawberries 2/3 cup sugar
2 cups orange juice, fresh or frozen 1 can (6 oz.) frozen lemonade
1 quart ginger ale
Thaw the berries, sprinkle with sugar and mash with a fork or potato masher. Mix berries with orange juice and reconstituted lemonade. To serve, pour fruit mixture over ice and add the ginger ale.
HOLIDAY PUNCH Serves 80-100
12 -6 oz. cans frozen or canned orange juice 1 -6 oz. can frozen or bottled lemon juice
8 quarts cranberry juice cocktail, chilled 5 quarts bottles sparkling water or ginger ale
Reconstitute orange and lemon juice with 3 cans of cold water per can of juice and continue, following above directions. If fruit juices are combined ahead of time reserve the sparkling water and add just before serving. Slices of orange, maraschino cherries and other fruits may be frozen in ring molds or other shapes and used in punch bowl for decorative purposes.
RHUBARB-LEMONADE PUNCH Serves 10-20
3 cups sliced fresh/frozen unsweetened rhubarb 3/4 cup sugar
1 6-oz. can frozen pink lemonade concentrate 3 cups water
1 -16 oz. bottle (2 cups) sugar-free lemon-lime carbonated beverage
In saucepan combine rhubarb, sugar, lemonade concentrate, and water. Cook till rhubarb is soft, about 10 minutes. Strain and chill the syrup. Just before serving pour chilled syrup over ice in punch
CHRISTMAS PUNCH Makes 3 quarts, serves 40
4 cups strained orange juice 1/2 cup lemon juice
1 quart cranberry juice cocktail 1 pint sparkling water
2 trays of mint ice cubes
Place juices and sparkling water in punch bowl. Add mint ice cubes. let stand 10 minutes. Garnish with orange slices studded with whole cloves.
PINK PUNCH Serves 30 – 40 (5 – 6 oz punch cup)
1 large box banana strawberry gelatin 2 Cups boiling water
4 cups cold water 1 Cup sugar
8 oz. bottle lemon juice 48 oz. pineapple juice
2 quart 7-Up
CRANBERRY PUNCH Serves 25-30, Makes 2 1/2 quarts
1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup water
2 cups cranberry juice cocktail 1 cup orange juice, frozen or fresh or canned
1/2 cup lemon juice, frozen or fresh or canned 1 quart ginger ale
Cook sugar and water together to the boiling point. Then continue cooking 5 minutes longer. Cool slightly and mix with the three juices.
GELATIN PUNCH
2 large pkg. gelatin, your flavor or color 4 cups boiling water
4 cups sugar 9 cups cold water
2 cups bottled Real Lemon juice 2 46 oz. cans pineapple juice (not grapefruit juice)
Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water. Add rest of ingredients and freeze. Four hours before serving, remove from freezer. To serve, add 2 large bottles gingerale. (If you use lemon gelatin, reduce lemon juice to 1 cup and increase water to 5 cups) Serves 25-30.
Before choosing any of these punch recipes, look at the ease of making the punch and the amount you will need for your gathering. A bit of advance planning will allow you to enjoy your gathering. Enjoy!
