Sparkling Fruit Punch Bowl with a Frozen Fruit Ice Ring

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A proper punch bowl for a crowd, built the way bartenders build batch drinks: a spiced hibiscus tea backbone for tannin and depth, fresh citrus for lift, and a ginger syrup that keeps it from tasting like juice from a carton. The frozen fruit ice ring is the whole trick — it chills the bowl for hours without watering the punch down, and it looks like you hired someone. Entirely alcohol-free, with a one-line note for spiking individual glasses.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
• 3 cups cold filtered water
• 1 orange, sliced into thin wheels
• 1 lime, sliced into thin wheels
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 cup fresh pineapple, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
• 12 mint sprigs

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 4 oz fresh ginger, unpeeled, thinly sliced (about a 4-inch knob)
• 3 wide strips lemon peel, no white pith
• 1 pinch kosher salt

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1/3 cup dried hibiscus flowers (flor de jamaica), loosely packed
• 2 black tea bags
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise pod
• 4 whole cloves

• 4 cups unsweetened pineapple juice, chilled
• 3 cups cranberry juice (100% juice or juice blend), chilled
• 2 cups fresh-squeezed orange juice, strained (about 6 oranges)
• 3/4 cup fresh lime juice, strained (about 7 limes)
• 1 liter sparkling water or club soda, very cold

• 1 orange, sliced in wheels
• 1 handful mint sprigs
• dark rum or white rum, 1 1/2 oz per glass, for guests who want it

Instructions

1. Make the ice ring the day before. Stir the pineapple juice and cold water together. Arrange the orange and lime wheels, cranberries, pineapple cubes, and mint sprigs in the bottom of a 10- to 12-cup bundt or tube pan, then pour in just enough of the juice-water to come halfway up the fruit (about 1 1/2 cups). Freeze 2 hours, until set — this anchors the fruit so it stays suspended instead of floating.
2. Pour the remaining juice-water over the frozen layer, leaving 1/2 inch of headroom for expansion. Freeze at least 8 hours or overnight, until rock solid.
3. Make the ginger syrup: combine the sugar, water, sliced ginger, lemon peel, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then simmer gently for 5 minutes. Kill the heat, cover, and let it steep 20 minutes off the burner — the raw heat of the ginger comes out during the steep, not the boil.
4. Meanwhile, make the tea base: put the hibiscus, tea bags, cinnamon stick, star anise, and cloves in a heatproof pitcher or bowl and pour over 2 cups boiling water. Steep exactly 5 minutes, then pull the tea bags (any longer and the black tea goes bitter). Let the hibiscus and spices continue steeping another 15 minutes as it cools.
5. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a jar, pressing lightly on the ginger. Strain the tea base into a separate container. Refrigerate both until cold, at least 1 hour — you should have about 1 1/4 cups syrup and 1 3/4 cups tea.
6. Build the base (up to 24 hours ahead): in a large pitcher or 4-quart container, combine the pineapple juice, cranberry juice, orange juice, lime juice, cold tea base, and 1 cup of the ginger syrup. Stir well and taste. Add the remaining syrup a tablespoon at a time if your citrus was sharp; it should taste a touch more tart and concentrated than you want, since the ice ring and soda will soften it. Refrigerate until serving.
7. To serve, dip the bottom of the bundt pan in warm water for 20 to 30 seconds and invert the ice ring into a 6-quart punch bowl, fruit side up. Pour the chilled base over and around it, then add the cold sparkling water and stir just twice — gently, to keep the bubbles.
8. Float the orange wheels and mint sprigs on top and ladle into cups over a single ice cube or none at all. Set a bottle of rum beside the bowl with a jigger if you like; 1 1/2 oz per 6-oz cup turns it into a rum punch without touching the bowl.
9. Top the bowl up with more cold sparkling water as it empties, roughly 1 cup for every 3 cups of base you started with, and ladle in a fresh handful of mint.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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