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Shari Made Ponche. Here’s How.

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Ah, ponche. A Mexican Christmas season tradition. Shari made some today – her second batch, just to use up what we hadn’t used over the holidays.

Kindly enough, she took some pictures so that you could see, step by step, how she did it. Shari may not have the years of experience some Mexican women have, and everyone makes it differently, but this is a good representative recipe. And I can attest that it turned out great!

Ponche, or Christmas Fruit Ponche (say pone-chay) is something often served at a special event or a community Christmas party. It’s a hot drink.

Tejocote

tejocoteFirst, she boiled some tejocote for 5 minutes, to make them easy to peel. Tejocote is a type of hawthorn fruit, that look a little like crab-apples. The tejocotes were peeled and then added to the other fruit.

Other Ingredients

other ponche ingredientsHere you can see the other ingredients that were used in the ponche. On the bottom right is sugar cane, which is cut up so that a few people can have a stick in their mug of ponche. On the left you can see cinnamon sticks and dried tamarind pods. The red at the bottom is dried hibiscus flowers. The sliced yellow fruit is guava. The big brown cone is unrefined cane sugar, known in Mexico as piloncillo. You could get a similar effect using brown sugar.
Hot Ponche in the Pot
Shari put everything except the apples in to boil, leaving it for about half an hour to forty minutes. The apples were added in the last ten or fifteen minutes. Add a little sugar if it’s still too tart.

The Finished Ponche

Keep it hot on the stove as you serve! Here is the finished product. You serve the liquid, and if preferred some fruit and a bit of sugar cane (usually it is preferred!).

Hot Christmas Ponche, ready to drink!

Jim’s Chocolate Orange Muffins (gluten-free)

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The last recipe of the day – and this time it’s gluten-free!

Jim's Chocolate Orange Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup avocado oil (or other vegetable oil)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • Zest from 2 oranges
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and oil a 12 serving muffin pan.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine the pizza crust mix, sugar and baking powder.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold together, being careful not to overmix.

Fold in the orange zest and chocolate chips.

Pour into the prepared cups, filling 3/4 full.  Bake at 350F for 20-22 minutes until golden and the tops spring back when lightly touched.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

This recipe was based on this recipe from Bob’s Red Mill.  They were pretty yummy. 🙂

Nathanael’s Orange Chocolate Mint Muffins

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This is our third muffin recipe of the day, from Nathanael.

Unfortunately, according to Nathanael, this muffins were just too rich.  I think leaving out either the orange or mint would have helped – both together was a little much!

Nathanael's Orange Chocolate Mint Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk with a little lemon juice or vinegar stirred in – let sit for 10 minutes)
  • Grated zest of 1 orange
  • 1 tsp mint extract
  • 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F

Whisk egg with sugar.  Whisk in melted butter.  Whisk in 1/2 cup buttermilk.

Stir in grated orange zest and mint extract.  Stir well until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients briefly until just incorporated.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon into prepared muffin cups or loaf pan(s).  Bake at 375F until a toothpick comes away dry or with a few moist crumbs when inserted in the center (typically 15-25 minutes for muffins, longer for loaves).

To create this recipe, Nathanael used the “Muffinator”.

Hannah’s Double Chocolate Orange Muffins

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This is the second recipe in a series of four – one from each member of the family.

This is the recipe that Hannah invented, and apparently it was a big success.

Hannah's Double Chocolate Orange Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder (Hershey’s, of course)
  • Grated zest of 1 orange
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp oatmeal
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • Maraschino cherries, cut in halves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F

Whisk egg with granulated sugar.  Whisk in melted butter.  Whisk in milk.

Stir in vanilla extract and cocoa powder. Stir in grated orange zest.  Stir well until smooth.

In a separate bown, combine flour, oatmeal, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, and salt.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients briefly until just incorporated.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon into prepared muffin cups or loaf pan(s).  Put 1/2 a maraschino cherry on top of each muffin.  Bake at 375F until a toothpick comes away dry or with a few moist crumbs when inserted in the center (typically 15-25 minutes for muffins, longer for loaves).

To create this recipe, Hannah used the “Muffinator”.  Try it! 🙂

Shari’s Blueberry Orange Muffins

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A little while ago we had a muffin-making bonanza.  For our family time together, we decided to invent our own muffin recipes and bake them.

I promised to share those recipes with you.  So – ladies first – we’ll start with Shari’s recipe.  The rest will follow later today.

Shari's Blueberry Orange Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Grated zest of 2 oranges
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 80g oatmeal (about .87cups)
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
  • Optional: 224g blueberries, sugar and cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Whisk eggs together with granulated sugar.  Whisk in melted butter.  Whisk in milk.

Stir in vanilla extract and cinnamon.  Stir in grated orange zest until mixture is smooth.

In a separate bown, combine flours, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients briefly until just incorporated.

Fold in blueberries.

Spoon into prepared muffin cups or loaf pan(s).  Optional: cook another 224g of blueberries, along with a little sugar down to make a jam. Divide the jam among the muffins or loaves and swirl a bit with a toothpick of chopstick.  Sprinkle with a little brown sugar mixed with cinnamon to taste.

Bake at 375F until a toothpick comes away dry or with a few moist crumbs when inserted in the center (typically 15-25 minutes for muffins, longer for loaves).

To create this recipe, Shari used the “Muffinator”.  All who tried these muffins thought they were yummy. 🙂

Coca-Cola Gold

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Gold Medal Coca-Cola

I bought this Coke at the store today.  It’s in honour of the best soccer players in the world – Mexico’s gold medal Olympic team. 🙂

It features the logo of the country’s soccer (football) association.  Then it says – Gold Medal – Thank You, Mexico – 11-08-12 and then it reminds us that Coca-Cola was an official sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Way to go, Mexico!

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