Guest Author - Eileen Brown
The traditional Christmas libation known as Punch-A-Cream in the English-speaking Caribbean is known elsewhere throughout the islands and in parts of South America as Ponche Crema and Ponche de Creme. In every case, it is a cream and rum based liqueur that tastes very much like eggnog.
The traditional recipe for Punch-A-Cream calls for the use of raw eggs, or sometimes raw egg yolks. I prefer to use a pasteurized egg product, but I have included the original egg yolk amounts in case you wish to use them.
Another popular and traditional tropical eggnog-type beverage is Puerto Rico's Coquito, which means "Little Coconut". This, too, is served at Christmas. It is similar to Punch-A-Cream in that it has a cream and rum base, but Coquito is made with coconut milk as well as sweetened condensed milk. Again, I have substituted pasteurized egg product for the raw eggs in the recipe.
Punch-A-Cream Recipe
1 1/2 cups pasteurized egg product (or 8 egg yolks)
3 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 bottle (3/4 liter) Jamaican over-proof rum
1 tablespoon Angostura Bitters (optional)
freshly grated nutmeg
Combine the pasteurized egg product, the sweetened condensed milk and the evaporated milk in a large mixing bowl and beat them together well, until the mixture is frothy.
Add the rum (and the Angostura Bitters if you choose to use them) to the egg and milk mixture and combine all of the ingredients thoroughly.
Pour the Punch-A-Cream into clean glass bottles and refrigerate for at least an hour - the flavor improves the longer it rests.
Serve Punch-A-Cream over ice or in small punch glasses with a dusting of fresh nutmeg.
Coquito ("Little Coconut") Recipe
1 cup pasteurized egg product (or 4 egg yolks)
2 cups coconut milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups white Puerto Rican rum
freshly grated nutmeg
Combine the egg product, the coconut milk, the sweetened condensed milk and the vanilla in a large mixing bowl and blend until thoroughly combined and frothy.
Add the rum to the milk mixture and blend well.
Pour the Coquito into clean glass bottles and refrigerator for at least one hour - the flavor continues to improve, the longer it rests.
Serve Coquito in punch cups with a grating of fresh nutmeg.
