Halloween Punch

A cauldron full of some sort of Halloween punch is essential at any good Halloween party.  There are many different types of punch you can make, and everyone has their favorites.  There are hot punches, similar to mulled wine, which are wonderfully warming on a cold Halloween night, and there are cold fruity punches that taste amazing and will keep your guests coming back for more.  It can be fun to come up with a Halloween themed name for your homemade punch, such as Witch’s Brew or Dragon’s Blood.  Kids will love the idea of drinking something with such a disgusting name, and at a party for adults you can include alcohol in the recipe – just make sure you let your guests know what they’re drinking.  For effect, you could float some candy snakes in the bowl or serve your concoction in a carved out pumpkin.  Here we list a selection of our favorite punch recipes for you to try.

Warm Spiced Apple Juice

2 1/2 pints of apple juice (you could use cider instead for an alcohol based punch)
Maple syrup or honey to taste (around 4-5 tablespoons)
Cinnamon stick
4 cloves
4 allspice berries
Rind of 1 lemon
Rind of 1 orange

Heat the apple juice and maple syrup (or honey if you prefer) in a large saucepan, but don’t let it boil.  Put the other ingredients in a muslin bag tied with string, or in a tea leaf ball, and add to the pan.  Leave the punch on a medium heat for 20 minutes or so to let the flavours infuse, then serve warm.

Fruity Punch

Mix 2 pints each of cranberry juice, pineapple juice and ginger ale to make this simple punch that’s ideal for a kids party.

Zombie Punch

This is based on the cocktail called a zombie – remember to warn your guests it contains a lot of alcohol!

In a large pan, dissolve 10 tablespoons of sugar in 10 fl oz of lemon juice, then add 10 fl oz each of white rum, gold rum, demerara rum, pineapple juice, lime juice and passion fruit syrup.  Add some slices of lemon and lime before serving.

Hot Ginger Punch

This is another punch that should be served warm.

3 pints of ginger ale or ginger beer
1 1/2 pints of orange juice
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 orange cut into slices
3 cinnamon sticks
3 star anise
10 cloves
A pinch of ground nutmeg
A 1in piece of ginger, grated

Heat all the ingredients together in a large saucepan for 10-15 minutes, so that it gets hot but doesn’t boil.  Serve warm.