Ponche Recipe
By hola | Published | No Comments
Served warm, this festive, fruity punch is a great choice for entertaining this chilly time of year. While ponche is a regular feature of the Christmas posada, it works just as well at the center of a New Year’s bash.
Enjoy! And feel free to improvise. The original recipe calls for tamarind pods, tejocotes and guavas, which might be hard to find locally. But substituting with what fruit is available also yields tasty results.
Ingredients
- 2 tamarind pods
- 6 guavas
- 8 oz. tejocotes
- 8 oz. dried fruit such as prunes
- 2 green apples, peeled and chopped
- 2 pears, peeled and chopped
- The juice of 4-6 oranges
- 10 quarts of cold water + 2 quarters of hot water
- 3 pds. Sugar cane or piloncillo
- 2 pds. piloncillo
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 cup of chopped walnuts
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- Brandy, rum or other libation for spiking the punch bowl (optional)
Preparation
Soak the tojocotes and tamarind in hot water for about an hour. Bring the cold water to a boil in a very large pot, then reduce to simmer. Remove the tamarind water and discard the water. Remove the brittle shells from the tamarind, and squeeze out the seeds from the pulp. Cut the tejocotes into quarters, removing the skin. Add the tamarind pulp and the tejocotes to the simmering water.
Cut the guavas into quarters, and add them in. Chop or slice the sugar cane into chunks (remove the outer skin if it has it) and add them in. Add in the remaining ingredients and simmer for 1 hour.
Remove cinnamon sticks and add alcohol (optional) before serving. Makes about 15 servings.
*Adapted from a recipe by Chelsie Kenyon
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