Heart and Soul Warming Ponche Navideño :: Mexico’s Hot Christmas Punch

Mexico's fragrant, delicious ponche navideño–Christmas punch, served piping hot.  Loaded with seasonal fruits and sweet spices, it's a do-not-miss at our Christmas festivities.  The recipe is simple and the rewards are many; you, your family, and your holiday guests will love it as much as I do.  I wish the computer had a scratch-and-sniff capacity–the fragrance of the ponche would make your mouth water.  Photo courtesy México Desconocido.

At nearly every mid-winter party in Mexico, you'll find a big vat of steaming hot, homemade ponche navideño.  Served with or without a piquete (a shot of rum, tequila, or other alcohol), this marvelous drink will warm you from the inside out.  Really, it wouldn't be Christmas (or a posada, or New Year's Eve) without it.  Here's the recipe I've used for years.  

Ponche Navideño Mexicano**
**You should be able to buy everything on this list at your local Latin market

2 pounds sugar cane, peeled and cut into 3” sticks
1 pound apples, cored and cut into thin slices or chunks
1 pound pears, cored and cut into thin slices or chunks–Bosc are excellent for this
10 ripe guavas, cut in quarters and seeded
Peel of one orange 
1 pound tejocotes, cut in quarters and seeded
1/2 pound tamarind fruit removed from the pods and deveined
1/2 pound prunes with or without seeds
2 ounces dried jamaica flowers
2 whole cloves
1 star anise pod (optional)
1 kilo piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar)
1/2 cup white sugar (optional)
2 long sticks Mexican cinnamon, broken in thirds or quarters

6 quarts of water or more

Special Equipment
A 12-to-14 quart lidded pot
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Just before you start cutting up fruit, put 6 quarts of water in a pot, cover it, and over high heat, bring the water to a boil.  

Add all the cut fruit to the pot and bring the pot back to a boil.  Then lower to simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.  If you think the pot needs more water, bring it to a boil separately and add it little by little.

Add the tamarind, the prunes, the jamaica, the cloves, the piloncillo, the white sugar, the cinnamon, and continue to simmer until all of the fruit is soft and very tender. 

We usually ask our adult guests if they'd like their cups of ponche "con piquete" (with a shot of alcohol–rum, tequila, etc).  Add a shot to each cup as requested, prior to adding the hot ponche.

The fragrant perfume of seasonal ripe guavas permeates our markets right now–they're ready to buy for ponche.

Tejocotes are also in season–it's Mexican hawthorn, similar to the crabapple.  Each of these measures approximately 1 1/4" in diameter.  The fruit is very high in pectin, which slightly thickens your pot of ponche.  If you simply cannot find tejocotes, substitute another pound of apples.

Tamarind pods with their shells on.  If you're unable to find the pods, use about 1/4 pound tamarind paste per recipe.

These are prunes with seeds.  You can use these or you can used seedless prunes.

Here are the dehydrated jamaica flowers you need to make ponche.  The jamaica flower is a cousin to the hibiscus; its English name is roselle. The flowers add deep red color and cranberry-like tartness to the drink.

Star anise for your ponche.  You will find this in the store where you usually buy spices, at a Latin market, or at an Asian market.

Look at this huge display of piloncillo (molded raw brown sugar) at the Mercado de Jamaica, Mexico City!  Why?  EVERYBODY makes ponche at Christmas time!  Click on any photo to enlarge.

Here is an up-close look at the two different sizes of piloncillo.  For the ponche, you'll want to buy one kilo (2.2 pounds) of either size.

This is what's known as canela–Mexican "true cinnamon".  The truth is, it's grown in Ceylon and imported to Mexico.  Notice how many, many layers of very thin bark are folded in on one another.  This cinnamon is quite soft, breaks and flakes easily, and is what you want to look for to use in ponche and any other Mexican recipe calling for cinnamon.  Do not be misled into buying cassia, a much more readily found, much harder in consistency, and much less flavorful "fake" cinnamon.  Look for canela at your Latin market; the sticks are usually quite long.  These measure nearly half a yard!  To the right side are Mexican raisins, which, if you like, you can also add to the ponche.  I often do.

Old-fashioned Mexican peltre (enamel over metal) cups filled with ponche navideño.  Be sure to put a lot of all of the varieties of fruit into each cup.  Those are caña (sugar cane) sticks (colored pink by the jamaica flowers)–an edible decoration and a tool for pushing fruit from the cup into your mouth!  When you've eaten all the cooked fruit in your cup, chew on the sugar cane sticks for another sweet treat.  Be sure to spit out the fibers after you've chewed them.  Photo courtesy Kiwilimon.

Provecho!  (Mexico's way of saying bon appetit!)  

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