Sparkling Fruit Punch Cocktail

With fresh fruit and minimal sugar, this Sparkling Fruit Punch Cocktail is perfect for everyone. Leave out the Prosecco for kids and teetotalers, still delicious!

The Progressive Eats group that I started seven years ago usually takes off in December. With the glut of shopping, cooking, baking and holiday gift buying, we decided it would be best to take a much needed break after a year of organizing monthly food festivals, even if they are only virtual. So what’s with sharing this Sparkling Fruit Punch Cocktail in a group post this month after all?

Well, we are all women contributors and one of our own, Laura Kumin, has recently published her second book in honor of the centenary of the 19th amendment, a delectable new tome titled ‘All Stirred Up‘ that reveals a new side to the history of the suffrage movement.

We thought the effort timely and also thought some of our readers might love sharing Laura’s book as a holiday gift…so December it was! Besides, who would not want this Sparkling Fruit Punch Cocktail for the holidays?

We are all likely to conjure up a similar image of the women’s suffrage movement: picket signs, red carnations, militant marches through the streets. But was it only these rallies that gained women the exposure and power that led them to the vote?

Suffragists also carried their radical message into America’s homes wrapped in food wisdom, through cookbooks, which ingenuously packaged political strategy into already existent social communities.

These cookbooks gave suffragists a chance to reach out to women on their own terms, in non-threatening and accessible ways.

Maybe we need to reinvigorate that process; it seems our country is crying for something better, more harmony would be nice, and certainly meeting each other in the middle in that same nonthreatening and accessible way.

Woven among the story of the suffragists, Laura has taken the old recipes and refurbished them for use today.

It should come as no surprise when I went hunting for one perfect for me that I chose one that included the word ‘Prosecco.’

Not necessarily intended as a cocktail, the Fruit Punch of the book did have that as an option. You know me, I think the option would be to eliminate it only if you HAD to!

Nonetheless the recipe calls for an abundance of fresh fruit; I promise you this is not your mother’s Hawaiian Punch!

Laura revised the original recipe from Mrs. George Vincent; she must have been preparing for a rally! Don’t you sort of love the straightforwardness of this recipe? They did not mess around and while I did not know Mrs. George, (I do wish her name was included), I’m going to believe that her last few words were meaningful to more than this recipe.

‘Or in any way desired.’ Of course I’m reading a message there, of course women can do ANYTHING they set their mind to!

Here’s a comparison of the two recipes; full printable recipe with ingredients and instructions are at the bottom of the post.

FRUIT PUNCH
Juice of six lemons and six oranges, one can of pineapple minced, one quart of strawberries crushed, three cups sugar, more if required, four quarts water and lime juice to taste. Serve with sliced banana or with cherries or in any way desired.
Mrs. George E. Vincent, Anacortes

FRUIT PUNCH—ADAPTED
Servings: About 1 & 1/2 quarts or 1 & 1/3 liters
This punch is not nearly as sweet as the original and the ratio of fruit to water is tilted more toward the fruit. (The original ratios would result in a drink more like Kool-Aid than a fresh fruit punch.)

This version is refreshing on its own, and would be excellent with a sparkling white wine such as Prosecco or champagne or made into a bubbly drink by substituting sparkling water for some of the still water. The quantity is halved because the original recipe makes an enormous batch.

Kumin, the author of The Hamilton Cookbook, shares with us how, in spite of the oppressive opposition; these women used great wit and charm and wove it into their recipes.

Filled with actual recipes from this period, a read can be both educational and fun, I know I chuckled a few times. “Mix the crust with tact and velvet gloves, using no sarcasm, especially with the upper crust”.

All Stirred Up re-activates the taste of an era and carries us back through time and shares with us how, despite the image many of us have ingrained, they were far from the militants that detractors made them out to be.

Long before they had the vote, women enfranchised themselves through the subversive and savvy power of the palate.

Laura has taken these old recipes and revised them in formats we are more familiar with today and thankfully cut this one in half.

I took a couple of my own different paths too, but not by much. Securing citrus at Christmastime was never a worry, they shine this time of year, but I was concerned about strawberries. Especially since I live by home delivery right now.

The Gods were on my side, the strawberries I received were absolutely beautiful, but being out of season, they were not quite as ripe and juicy as those we can procure in the summer, so I had to up the sugar quantity a bit; they simply were not as sweet.

I did not want cloying sweet but knowing I was going to be mixing my fruit punch with Prosecco I needed sweet enough; the Prosecco delivers delightful bubbles but also serves to decrease sweetness with its dry nature.

If you make this for kids and plan to add 7-up or ginger ale; the 1/2 cup is probably enough.

I suggest you try it first with the original half cup of sugar in the simple syrup. When I decided I needed more, I simply added another 1/4 cup to the pitcher and let it sit for awhile to meld and dissolve. That was perfect for our tastes.

The only other change I made was to use fresh pineapple. I don’t know how they can grow those beautiful fruits on a faraway island, get them inland to Colorado and sell them for $2 but when they do I grab a couple.

Once you peel and slice a few, you’ll see how very easy they are to manage and I always prefer using them in recipes. You should try them in this Pineapple and Rum Upside Down Cake. You’ll never go back to canned, I promise!

I used to slice mine and then use a small round cookie cutter to remove the core but a neighbor bought me one of these nifty Pineapple Corer tools and it makes quick work out of both slicing and coring at one time. Genius huh?

I also use an Electric Citrus Juicer for this much fruit; my little tool is SO old but still works like a charm and makes juicing 5 or 50 pieces of citrus easy.

Best combination ever? Grab a copy of Laura’s book and read it while sipping one of these Sparkling Fruit Punch Cocktails. They were meant to be together.

As a matter of fact, today is my birthday, maybe I need to simply take off for the day and go do exactly that…Cheers!

More Celebratory Cocktails!

• Cranberry Gin Fizz Cocktail – One of the favorites over the holidays!
• Cranberry Sauce Mojito Cocktail
• Cranberry Sage Cocktail
• Blackberry and Bourbon Cranberry Cocktail
• Cranberry and Grand Marnier Champagne Cocktail
• Cranberry Pomegranate Moscow Mule Cocktail
• Homemade Cranberry Liqueur for Champagne Cocktails

PIN IT! ‘Sparkling Fruit Punch Cocktail’

Welcome to Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a Progressive Dinner Party. This month’s theme is a celebration of women’s suffrage, and our host is Laura who blogs at Mother Would Know.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats it’s a virtual party. The host for the month chooses the theme and members share recipes on that theme suitable for a delicious meal or party. Then you can hop from blog to blog to check them out. So come along and see all of the delicious and inspired dishes!