There must be thousands of different special Christmas beverage recipes floating around for punch, cocoa and such. I only know this because this is one of the more sparse sections of my personal Christmas cookbook, so I have had to go looking. I have looked high and low, and tried every one of the following - if I didn't like it, it didn't get here.
All of the Christmas beverage recipes listed on this page are family friendly. There is no alcohol, no fancy shmancy stuff. Just great drinks that are easy to make, and sure to please every member of the family. Kids will love them, so will the adults.
If there are one or two adults that would like to jazz them up, several would welcome more adult content in the form of alcohol, but they can add their own. As for caffeine, if that is an 'adults only' substance at your house, there are indeed recipes here that call for black tea or coffee, so simply skip over those, or make something else special for the kids!
None of these beverage recipes requires any special machinery, either. You don't need the espresso maker, or anything like that, the most you need is a blender.
So, without further ado, quench your thirst with one of these great beverage recipes!
Basic Hot Cocoa
Easy Ades
Homemade Fruit Syrups
Christmas Punch
Hot cocoa and winter go together. Its really simple to make with chocolate syrup or powdered mix, but here's a quick and easy way to step up the flavor a bit. All Christmas beverage recipes should be fast and easy - that way you'll make them more often!
2 teaspoons Cocoa
1¾ - 2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup boiling water
½ teaspoon vanilla
First, scald the milk in a small sauce pan.
In a second pot, combine cocoa, sugar and water, and bring to a boil. Add this mixture to the scalded milk, then add the vanilla.
YUP!! It IS that simple!
You can replace the vanilla with peppermint and put a candy cane in as a stirrer for a special Christmas presentation. Just about any flavoring that goes with chocolate (is there one that doesn't??) will work beautifully - all you have to do is remember to add the flavor after the pot is off of the heat.
When a person thinks of an ade, generally lemon or lime come to mind. Beverage recipes abound for ades, and here is a basic recipe that will adapt itself to many different fruits. Try a little something different with one of these ideas for delicious ades!
The Christmas beverage recipes below make ½ gallon of ade. Adjust to suit your needs, and remember, sugar is to taste, so start with the lower amount and work your way up to perfection!
4 - 5 tablespoons sugar
4 pints water
4 pints water
Ades are never cooked. In fact, using ice-cold-water speeds up the process and keeps the ade from getting watered down if its needed immediately - no need for added water in the form of ice cubes. If using ice, put the cubes in the pitcher, and fill to the 4 pint/½ gallon mark - don't fill with water and then add ice.
Any fruit can be used - raspberries, currants, strawberries and blueberries make a refreshing change from lemons, limes and oranges.
Before freezers and refrigeration in general, people needed something to do to keep perishable fruit crops from spoiling before they could be consumed. In addition to pickles and jams, fruit syrups were quite common on the old homestead.
Fruit syrups have many uses, including in Christmas beverage recipes. They can also be used in fillings, toppings, and a host of other goodies.
Sugar is a wonderful preservative. The recipe below is generic - can be used for any fruit. Because of this, there is a sparse amount of sugar in it - to accommodate the sweeter fruits.
Remember two things when making fruit syrups: First, the less sugar used, the shorter the life-span of the syrup. Second, sweeten only to taste. It does no good to make a very sugary syrup that no one in the family will drink!
1 part sugar
While you can heat the juice to speed the dissolving of the sugar, it is not necessary. Keeping the juice at room temperature or colder takes a little longer, but none of the nutrients in the fruit are destroyed by heating that way.
What's a party without a punch to drink? There must be millions of Christmas beverage recipes for punch out there. Here is a very basic one with a couple variations. This is a family friendly punch, but feel free (if all the guests are adults) to add your favorite spirits or liqueurs to it!
1 quart water
½ cup lemon juice
1 cup orange juic
zest of ½ orange
zest of 1 lemon
1 quart sparkling water
Cook the sugar and water together, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Cool completely, add the rest of the ingredients except the sparkling water, and chill. Add the sparkling water just before serving.
To add variety to this very basic punch, try the following variations:
1 pint of raspberry, strawberry, pomegranate or blueberry juice
1 quart grape or blackberry juice
¼ cup preserved chopped ginger root and 1 quart ginger ale instead of the sparkling water
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You are most definitely invited post any recipes or questions you'd like to share in the comments below - or - if you'd like to share a story with your recipe and/or trade links, simply contact me and we'll git er done!
Many Blessings
GrannySue
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