Merry White Meadows Punch

Welcome to Week 2 of our Holiday Cocktail Series — if you missed Week 1: Smokey Niagara Peach Mule, click here to get caught up!

This week, Aarika has chosen to highlight White Meadows Farm’s festive favourite: Maple Cranberry Fruit Sauce. Cranberries are an essential part of the Holiday palate making this ingredient a clear choice for the next cocktail creation. ‘Tis the season for Holiday parties and spirited gatherings where the best conversations happen around the punch bowl. Without further adieu, we present the Merry White Meadows Punch 👏👏

To bring our Holiday punch to another level, Aarika has selected white wine from our favourite local winery Vineland Estates. We’ve worked with Vineland Estates for many years and absolutely adore their wine. Vineland’s Semi-Dry Riesling is a key ingredient in our Maple Onion Jam. We also use their Cabernet Franc in our Beef Stew as served in our Sugar Bush Campout Lunch. Needless to say, there is always a place for Vineland Estates in our creations and we couldn’t be happier to showcase one of their best bottles in our latest cocktail. 

The use of wine in the base of our Merry White Meadows Punch is a crossover between classic sangria and mulled wine. Sangria is great for summer while mulled wine is much more popular during the winter months. Both of these beverages are typically made with RED wine. Sangria includes fruit juice, fresh fruit and liqueur and is served over ice while mulled wine is infused with spices and citrus and is served warm. We are WHITE Meadows Farms after all, so what better way to celebrate the meadows that coined our name than to use a local white wine? With this in mind, Aarika found that cold infusing warm spices, citrus and our Maple Cranberry Fruit Sauce with white wine resulted in a more delicate way to introduce these flavours.

Cold infusing is a great way to eliminate some of the unwanted harsh notes you may get from simmering mulled wine on the stovetop. 

Now let’s talk liqueurs: Aarika wanted to go beyond classic orange flavoured liqueur or brandy that is used in mulled wine (which would be yummy as well, no doubt) by adding floral notes of St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur. Elderflower Liqueur has citrus, pear and honey notes that balance the tart acidity from the cranberries. Floral characteristics were chosen to once again pay homage to the name: White Meadows Farms. 

🤍 Farm Fact: Did you know that White Meadows Farms was named in memory of Great Grandmother Adeline Bering in 1984? The rolling hills just outside the farmhouse window used to burst white each Spring with daisies, earning Adeline’s nickname “White Meadows” — it’s been 3 generations since, and the name still sticks.

Since the punch itself is inspired by a merry and festive time at the farm, we would be remiss not to incorporate pure maple in some way. A maple sugar rim around each glass brings the entire concept together and adds a touch of maple sweetness.

The Muskoka Springs brand resonates with our team at White Meadows Farms. There is something to be said for small businesses who have survived generations and have never lost touch with their initial message: quality ingredients and timeless recipes.

Gather round the punch bowl – rimmed glass in hand – to enjoy this fantastic libation among friends or family this holiday season. The best part about the way this cocktail comes together is that it’s pre-chilled so you won’t ever have to worry about ice watering it down. So keep the Maple Cream Ale close and the punch bowl closer, you won’t want to miss this unique cocktail combination! 

Merry White Meadows Punch

The quintessential festive punch to be shared amongst family and friends. Crafted as a white wine sangria delicately spiced with a cold infusion of mulling spices and maple cranberry fruit sauce.

Makes 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

Cold Infused Mulled Wine

• 3 Cinnamon sticks 
• 2 Star anise 
• 5 Whole cloves 
• 1-inch fresh ginger, peeled and sliced 
• 3 Orange peel strips, pith trimmed off 
• 100 ml | ½ jar White Meadows Farms Maple Cranberry Fruit Sauce 
• 80 ml | ⅓ cup St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur 
• 750 ml | 1 bottle Vineland Estates Semi-Dry Riesling 

Punch

• Cold Infused Mulled Wine
• 1 Medium orange, sliced thinly
• 1 Granny smith apple, sliced
• 1 cup Whole cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 250 ml | 1 cup White cranberry juice 

Top with

• 30-45 ml | 1-1 ½ oz Muskoka Springs Maple Cream Ale, per glass 

Garnish:

• White Meadows Farms Maple Sugar, for rimming 
• 1 Cinnamon stick, per glass 
• 1 Star anise, per glass
• 1 Orange peel strip, per glass (optional) 

1. To prepare cold infused mulled wine, grab a 1L resealable jar and add whole spices, sliced ginger, orange peel strips, maple cranberry sauce, elderflower liqueur and white wine. Give it a good stir before sealing. Refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days to allow flavours to infuse. 
2. Once sufficiently infused to your liking, strain the cold mulled wine infusion using a fine mesh sieve into a large measuring cup. 
3. In a large pitcher or punch bowl, add prepared fruit, cold infused mulled wine and white cranberry juice. Stir together, cover and refrigerate for a few hours before serving to allow fruit time to soak and punch to chill.  
4. Once ready to serve, pour punch into cocktail glasses rimmed with maple sugar, adding scoops of soaked fruit as desired. 
5. Top each glass with maple cream ale and garnish with a cinnamon stick, star anise and a twisted orange peel. 

Notes 

• For a Dry Punch, replace the wine with a non-alcoholic wine or sparkling apple cider, swap the elderflower liqueur for elderflower syrup or rose water. 

• Don’t have 3 days to cold infuse? Here’s a quicker version: Break up the whole spices into smaller chunks to allow more flavour to be infused within a 2-4 hour timeframe. Your mulled wine infusion can simply be strained directly into the pitcher or punch bowl when ready to assemble, minutes before serving. We highly recommend using frozen prepared fruit instead of ice in this scenario, and ensuring your cranberry juice and maple cream ale are chilled before serving.

• If serving in a punch bowl and are worried about keeping it chilled for the duration of your event, we suggest making a large ice block made with cranberry juice instead of water and decorating it by adding whole and sliced cranberries before freezing.

• To add some festive decor to your punch, use small snowflake or star-shaped cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes in the apple slices.
  ⭐ Pro Tip: Make sure to toss your apple slices in lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.

✨Stay tuned for Holiday Cocktail #3 coming next week!