Q: My daughter is expecting her first child. A close friend is hosting a baby shower, and I have been asked to bring the punch. Are there any tasty, healthy and hopefully easy recipes for punch?
A: The following recipes offer refreshing ideas for baby shower punch. The first one is a nonalchoholic punch that expectant mothers can enjoy. The second is made with champagne and gets a splash of color from frozen melon balls.
RECIPES
Mango Melon Citrusade
Serves 12
If you don't own a juice extractor, you can use a food processor or blender to purée the fruit. Pass the fruit through a fine sieve. These juices can be extracted and puréed the night before preparing the punch.
Ingredients:
- 2 two-and-a-quarter-pound cantaloupes, peeled and seeded
- 6 one-pound mangos, peeled, pit removed, cut into chunks
- 1 3/4 cups Simple Syrup (recipe follows)
- 1 1/4 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
- 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions:
- Place cantaloupes in a juice extractor, food processor or blender. Process fruit to extract approximately 4 cups of juice.
- Place mangos in a juice extractor, food processor or blender. Process fruit to extract approximately 4 cups of juice.
- Transfer juices to a punch bowl. Stir in Simple Syrup, orange juice and lemon juice. Fill punch bowl with ice and serve.
Simple Syrup
Makes 6 Cups
Ingredients:
- 2 1/3 cups sugar
- 5 cups water
Directions:
Prepare an ice-water bath. In a large saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until the sugar has completely dissolved in the water, about 12 minutes. Transfer sugar syrup to a bowl and place bowl over an ice bath. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until chilled. Store the syrup in an airtight container in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 1 month.
Champagne Punch
Serves 12
Ingredients:
- 1 small honeydew melon
- 1 pound watermelon
- 1 small cantaloupe
- 20 ounces chilled champagne
- 24 ounces sweet Riesling wine
- 30 ounces chilled sparkling wine
Directions:
- Using three different sizes of melon ballers, measuring from 1/3 to 7/8 inch in diameter, scoop the melons and cantaloupe flesh into balls. Place the melon balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, making sure the balls are not touching one another. Freeze until melon balls are solid, about 3 hours or overnight.
- Combine the champagne, Riesling and sparkling wine in a large punch bowl. Add the frozen melon balls to the punch and serve.
Michael Vyskocil - Michael Vyskocil has been a feature writer for Recipes on Suite101.com since 2006. He currently serves as the Topic Editor for Recipes.
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