Do you grimace every time you ladle out a punch that’s covered in half-melted sherbet? Do you glance at the sugar content of the ginger ale and juice on traditional recipes and despair? Expert Chef Erin Dow shows Scientific Advisor Lori Kaley how to shake things up at this New Year’s celebration with a punch overflowing with nutrients and flavor, not corn syrup.
Holiday Everyday Punch
Canned tart cherries are generally found in the canned fruit section at your grocery store. As they’re not generally a big seller, they’re usually on the top or bottom shelf. Frozen berries and cherries are perfect for this recipe. Thaw the fruit in the refrigerator overnight (in a bowl to collect the juices) and proceed with the recipe as written.
Tip: To avoid watering down the final product with ice cubes, make a punch cube: before adding the seltzer and lime juice, pour about 1 ½ cups of the punch into a round plastic bowl or food storage container. Add a few fresh berries into the container and freeze until solid. Use your punch cube to keep everything nice and cold during service.
Servings: 20 (181 g )
Prep Time: 30 min.
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 min.
Ingredients
- 1 pint raspberries
- 1 pint blueberries
- 1 pint blackberries
- 1 (14.5 oz.) can pitted tart cherries, juices reserved
- 1 bottle no sugar added acai mixed berry juice, chilled
- ½ cup lime juice
- 1 liter lime seltzer water, chilled
Directions
- In a medium pot over medium heat, combine the raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and the sour cherries with their juices and bring to a low simmer (5 minutes).
- Reduce the heat to keep at a simmer and cook until fruit is soft (15 minutes). Pour the fruit and juices through a fine mesh strainer, pressing fruit with a spoon to release juices. Chill the juice (1 hour).
- To serve, combine the berry juice, the bottled juice, and the lime juice in a large punch bowl and stir. Add ice and pour in the seltzer to serve. If desired, garnish each serving with fresh berries.