The Cottage Smallholder

On a hot summers day when I have been working in the garden I sometimes take a break and loll in the bower with an ice cold citron pressé. Half a squeezed lemon in a tall glass topped up with iced water and a dash of sugar. It is instantly thirst quenching and takes me right back to summer holidays in Brittany when I was a child.

St Clement’s Punch is a much more sophisticated drink. Superb on a warm sunny day. Although it has a grown up taste, children seem to like it too so it is a great drink to make for a party or a fête.

I quadruple the recipe below each year for the church fête. It makes enough for 50 glasses and the ingredients cost well under a fiver. So it’s a reasonably profitable as a fund raiser. If a little vodka is added one can charge much more per glass (at a fête you need a special licence for this). But at last Sunday’s fête we served it au natural and it was lapped up by everyone. As we add the ginger beer when we recharge the punch bowl any remaining orange and lemon mixture can be frozen for future use.

If it was made with freshly squeezed oranges and homemade ginger beer it would taste even better. Incidentally I tossed in a handful of torn lemon balm which looked and tasted rather good. Until an hour ago I was unaware of the medicinal qualities of lemon balm. It romps away in our garden and I am constantly pulling it out. From now on I will be a little more circumspect as it seems to be a useful herb to have around. It is claimed that it has antibacterial, calming and anti viral properties. I also learnt that it is a member of the mint family.

Anne Mary’s St Clement’s Punch Recipe (Non Alcoholic)
Makes 10 – 12 glasses

Ingredients:

• 2 lemons
• 110 g of white granulated sugar
• 500 ml of water
• 500 ml of orange juice (from a carton rather than squash)
• 500 ml of ginger beer
• Slices of an orange for garnish and edible stuff from the garden such as borage, mint, lemon balm for colour.
• Ice cubes

Method:

1. Scrub lemons. Halve, squeeze out juice and retain.
2. Put the lemon peel and the sugar in a bowl an pour over 500 ml of boiling water. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
3. Leave until quite cold (I do this thw night before the fête). Strain and discard the lemon peel. Add the lemon juice and the orange juice and chill.
4. To serve, add the ginger beer, orange slices, lemon balm and ice.