I have found no evidence that your Opa, Adolph "Fritz" Neef, ever
published his punch recipe, but it was worth a try to look. It's
surprising some of the things that turn up on the Internet.
Since Opa's actual recipe seems to be irretrievable, I am posting my
Great-Uncle Ivar's recipe, which seems to be very similar. This is the
kind of thing that may need a lot of tweaking in order to get just the
flavor that you want, but I know this is a tasty punch with quite a
kick to it (if you'd like to lessen the 'kick' you may want to reduce
the amount of Southern Comfort).
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IVAR'S MAY PUNCH (MAIBOWLE)
1 gallon white wine (Riesling is best)
1 pint Southern Comfort (or Yukon Jack for a different flavor)
1 quart fresh strawberries, thoroughly cleaned and stems removed
1/2 cup dried sweet woodruff herb (waldmeister), crumbled
1/2 cup superfine sugar
Begin your preparation the day before the punch is to be consumed.
This enables the flavors to bloom.
The day before the punch will be served:
Heat the Southern Comfort until it is very warm to the touch, but do
not let it boil. Steep the sweet woodruff in the Southern Comfort
overnight (there is no need to refrigerate, but it is best to cover
the mixture to prevent evaporation). Thoroughly dredge the
strawberries in the sugar. Place the sugared strawberries in a covered
container and refrigerate overnight. Chill the wine overnight.
The day the punch will be served:
Strain the Southern Comfort/woodruff mixture and discard the solid
material. The Southern Comfort may have a somewhat cloudy appearance
now. Not to worry.
Add the strained Southern Comfort/woodruff infusion to the wine and
stir well. Add the sugared strawberries and any juice that may have
leached out of them during the overnight. Stir. Chill the mixture for
at least two hours before serving. If the punch bowl will be sitting
at room temperature for a substantial period during the festivities, a
single block of ice may be floated in the punch to keep it cold. Do
not add small ice cubes or crushed ice, since they will melt quickly.
When you dole out the punch to your guests, try to make certain that
every cup gets at least one of the strawberries.
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A few notes of my own...
Superfine sugar can be purchased at stores that carry candy-making
supplies, but you can easily make your own by taking regular
granulated table sugar and putting it in a blender or food processor
for a minute or so. Don't use powdered sugar; I tried this once, and I
ended up with several little white balls of undissolved sugar floating
in the punch. I had to track them down with a spoon and smush them
against the wall of the punchbowl, which was quite a nuisance!
If you have sweet woodruff growing in your garden, dry it until it can
be crumbled before using it. If (like me) you don't have access to
fresh sweet woodruff, you can use a pre-packaged product such as this:
Frontier Natural Products Co-op: Woodruff Herb, Cut & Sifted, 1 lb. package
http://www.frontiercoop.com/shop/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=686&Category_Code=bbbhsst
My own choice for making the May Punch is to use a wonderful sweet
woodruff extract that comes in liquid form. It's called "Göbber
Waldmeister Syrup." This stuff is delectable. The right amount for the
May Punch recipe above is about two ounces (if you use this syrup, you
don't have to strain the Southern Comfort, since there will be no
"dregs").
German Deli: Waldmeister Syrup
http://store.yahoo.com/gdcom/4054600095139.html
One last hint: if you want to float a block of ice in the punchbowl to
keep the punch cool, it's easy to make your ice block by cleaning out
a waxed cardboard half-gallon milk or juice container. Fill it about
half full with water and put it in the freezer. When you're ready to
serve the punch, run some warm water over the outside of the
container. Cut or tear off the top half, and the ice block should slip
right out. If not, a little more hot water or a very brief trip to the
microwave oven will melt it just a tiny bit so that it will come out
of the container.
I have made this punch with both Southern Comfort and Yukon Jack. Both
are very tasty, but I slightly prefer the honey flavor of the Yukon
Jack to the peachy flavor of the Southern Comfort. I've never used
both liqueurs together, half and half, but it sounds good to me. That
may be something I'll try in the future. Once, just out of curiosity,
I made May Punch with Grand Marnier. I didn't like it very much, but
my brother was so enthusiastic about this variety of the punch that he
drank about a quart of it. There's no accounting for taste. I've also
tried substituting champagne for the Riesling. This makes your punch
quite effervescent, but it seemed to me less flavorful.
I hope this helps you to duplicate your Opa's special punch! You may
want to experiment by making smaller batches until you get exactly the
right taste.
Best wishes,
pinkfreud |
