Mexican Ponche Drink
This vibrant Mexican ponche is a traditional Mexican Christmas fruit punch. It is made with fresh and dried fruits, cinnamon, and cloves. The dried hibiscus flowers give this Ponche its bright red color.
Servings: 16 cups
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried hibiscus flowers
- 2 dried tamarind pods husked and inner strings removed
- 6 quarts 24 cups water, divided
- 20 whole cloves
- 1 orange cut into quarters
- ½ of a jar 32 ounces of Tejocote, drained, about 14 pieces
- 1 package 14 ounces frozen, thawed, guavas, peeled and quartered
- 2 pilloncillo cones or 2 cups dark brown sugar
- 10 ounces fresh pineapple chopped
- 1 medium apple chopped
- 1 medium pear chopped
- 6 ounces pitted prunes chopped
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup walnut halves
- 3 Mexican cinnamon sticks
- Rum or brandy optional
- Long regular cinnamon sticks for stirring optional
- Fresh mint sprigs optional
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups of the water to a boil over medium-high heag and add the hibiscus flowers and husked tamarinds. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain into a large pot, pressing down on the solids to remove excess liquid. Discard the solids.
- Pour the remaining water into the pot.
- Cut the orange into quarters and push the sharp end of the cloves into the skin, then add to the pot.
- Add the Tejocotes, guavas, and piloncillos or sugar, pineapple, apple, pear, prunes, raisins, walnuts and the Mexican cinnamon sticks.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the piloncillo. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the pear is tender.
- To serve: Ladle the poncho into serving mugs with a small portion of the fruit in each mug. Add rum or brandy if using and garnish with fresh mint and a long cinnamon stick for stirring. Serve warm or chilled
Notes
- Simmer the ponche just until the fruit is slightly tender. The longer it cooks, the softer the fruit gets and breaks up and makes the ponche cloudy.
- Ponche, is a fruity Mexican Christmas punch that can be served either hot or cold but is most frequently served hot in Mexico.
- Dried hibiscus flowers give the ponche a beautiful red color and can be purchased online or in a Mexican market.
- Dried tamarind pods add a subtle sour note to the ponche. If unavailable, substitute with 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice.
- Dried tamarind pods, jarred Tejocote's, frozen guavas, Mexican cinnamon, and pilloncillo cones can be found in Mexican markets or online.
- Tejocote’s can be substituted with sour crabapples.
- If fresh guavas are unavailable, you can use frozen. They are easy to peel with a vegetable peeler when still frozen.
- Any type of nut can be used in this ponche.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 280kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 24mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 45g
