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Cider Punch
1 quart new or bottled cider Sugar 3/4 cup lemon juice 1 quart Apollinaris Ice Mix cider and lemon juice, and sweeten to taste. Strain into punch bowl over a large piece of ice. Just before serving add Apollinaris.
A simple three-ingredient punch that depends entirely on the quality of the cider. The only period obstacle is the branded mineral water.
- ApollinarisA naturally sparkling German mineral water, widely sold in the US around 1900 and named in cookbooks often enough that it stood in for sparkling water generally. Substitute any dry sparkling mineral water or club soda, one quart (4 cups).
- New ciderFresh-pressed sweet apple cider, unfermented and cloudy, not the hard cider the word means in Britain. Buy pasteurized cider; unpasteurized juice carries a real risk of E. coli and should not be served to children, elderly guests or anyone pregnant.
- Lemon juiceThree-quarters of a cup is roughly 5 to 6 lemons and makes for a sharp punch. Squeeze it fresh and taste before sweetening, since the acidity of the cider varies a great deal.
- SweeteningSugar dissolves poorly in cold liquid. Make a simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, heated until clear, then cooled) and add it by the spoonful rather than stirring in dry sugar.
- The large piece of iceA single block melts far more slowly than cubes and is the point of the instruction. Freeze water in a loaf pan or a small bowl the day before; cubes will dilute the punch much faster.
- Adding the soda lastFizz is lost to stirring and to sitting on ice. Combine cider, lemon and syrup ahead, chill it thoroughly, and pour in the mineral water at the table.
- YieldRoughly two and a quarter quarts once the soda is in, before any syrup; a good many small punch-cup servings.