Pomegranate Cranberry Rum Punch With Candied Rosemary

In a hurry? Click here to JUMP TO RECIPE!

Pomegranate Cranberry Rum Punch With Candied Rosemary

I know I know – I disappear for a whole month and when I come back, I only have a simple drink recipe to give you? I can explain. Our oven was broken – for six weeks. We rent our home so it wasn’t as simple as dipping into our saving to invest in a new one; instead, it was a constant battle of calling and emailing our rental company, them ordering parts, installing those parts (3 different times), and it still coming out broken. It was frustrating and I may have had a few meltdowns that made me disgusted with even bothering with the kitchen for a few weeks. Yes, I could have used the stove-top to whip you something delicious but it was the frustration of the whole thing that really unnerved me every time I walked into the kitchen and the annoyance took all my creative drive right out of me. So yeah – I was feeling negative the last few weeks and really didn’t want to bring you into it..I am hoping you understand. After a particularly nasty call I made when we were told it was fixed (for the second time) and I whipped up a big batch of cake batter only to find that the oven stopped halfway through the baking process, Wyatt snuck out of the house and returned with a toaster oven the size of our real oven. I am now able to bake you cakes, pizzas, breads, and so much more in this giant toaster oven so watch out – there will be lots more recipes very soon!

Pomegranate Cranberry Rum Punch With Candied Rosemary

Until then, I bring you a cocktail recipe! Thanksgiving is approaching fast and we are switching up the tradition this year. In years past, Thanksgiving prep was actually great practice for the freelance world; I would spend weeks researching recipes by scanning through magazines, Pinterest boards, and the indexes of my favorite blogs. I’d make lists of 30 to 40 recipes that would then be dwindled down to 10 or so by my stepdad and ma. We would then spend two solid days cooking (these are now shoot days in my freelance life) and prepping the food. It would all end up with a huge feast that we’d present to the whole family. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case this year due to my stepfather’s passing two months ago and my mother not ready to carry out that tradition just yet.

Instead, I will be heading up the the northern part of Wisconsin (brrrrrrrr) to celebrate with Wyatt’s family in their cabin. I am excited to start this new tradition with Wyatt’s family but am also bummed I won’t be taking control of the food this year. Wisconsin may only be 2 states away but the drive is 13 hours and I can’t imagine that a cake or pie will fair well in the back seat with Tuko.

So alas, I am throwing in the towel and only bringing ingredients for a cocktail recipe instead. Besides the obvious point that these ingredients will travel well and it’ll be easy to prepare, I am hoping to bring a bit of my family’s tradition with me to Wyatt’s event. It is not that this particular cocktail is an old family recipe but that my family has always celebrated with alcohol. Both sides of my family are German and we all tend to be heavy and joyful drinkers; I realize some families have negative views of drinking as it leads to dramatic arguments and un-controllable negative habits but not with my family. My family works hard and we also play hard; my mother and I have at least one ‘mother-daughter pool day’ a year in the summer months that consist of drinking sangria and lounging by the family pool, my grandparent’s drank a Manhatten together every evening as they talked about their days for over 50 years, my father pulls out the bottle of Jack whenever his old college buddies come into town and they drink rum and cokes while reminiscing about their old prank days, and my mother and I always get a boot full of glühwein during the holiday season when we go up to Chicago for Christmas shopping.  Similar to food, it’s nice to be able to take a sip of a certain cocktail and have my mind transported to a moment in time that I had shared with loved ones.

Pomegranate Cranberry Rum Punch With Candied Rosemary recipe below:

Pomegranate Cranberry Rum Punch With Candied Rosemary

Pomegranate Cranberry Rum Punch With Candied Rosemary
A winter cocktail filled with winter produce and ideal for holidays and winter parties!
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Author: Shelly Westerhausen
Ingredients
For the simple syrup:
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries + more for garnish
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
For the candied rosemary:
  • 8 Rosemary sprigs
  • 1/4 cup sugar
Everything Else:
  • 4 cups Pomegranate Juice
  • 1 cup Cranberry Juice
  • 1 cup white rum
Instructions
  1. Combine the cranberries with 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
  2. Stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved and then remove from heat. Set aside and let cool.
  3. Place the sugar for the candied rosemary in a shallow dish. Dip the rosemary sprigs in the simple syrup and then immediately roll in the sugar.
  4. Place on parchment paper to try and repeat with the rest of the sprigs.
  5. Combine the juices, rum, and simply syrup in a pitcher. Chill.
  6. Divide between 8 glasses and garnish with the rosemary. Cheers!

 

 

Comment

24 Comments

  • Claire Livia
    November 16, 2014

    My old apartment had the worst oven- I completely hear how agonizing it is, and how hard it is to write something charming when you’re feeling wildly uncharmed. The punch looks fantastic though, and I hope you’re Thanksgiving isn’t too sad being away from your family! xo

  • jaime : the briny
    November 16, 2014

    broken oven sounds like a nightmare; sorry that happened!

    this cocktail is beautiful and i love that your family has such a jovial relationship with booze. drink traditions are just as rich as food traditions, i think!

    • Shellywest
      jaime : the briny
      November 20, 2014

      I agree! You can taste the memories with cocktail recipes, just as you can with food traditions!

  • Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
    November 17, 2014

    Oh man…broken oven?! What a nightmare!! Happy to have you back though. And I think this cocktail is a great post! Candied rosemary sounds great!

    • Shellywest
      Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
      November 20, 2014

      Yes! Back just in time for all the holiday baking…couldn’t miss it!

  • Baking Magique
    November 17, 2014

    I would have gone crazy if my oven was broke… I am a baking addict. I admit that.

    • Shellywest
      Baking Magique
      November 20, 2014

      Ha – I am a baking addict as well…it was not a pretty sight around our house for the month it was broken. >.<

  • Kathryn
    November 17, 2014

    I love me a good holiday cocktail and given that this manages to include pretty much all of my favourite things (rum! cranberries! rosemary!), I can already tell you that this is going to be my drink of choice in November and December. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving; holidays are always hard after such a bereavement.

  • Sini | My Blue&White Kitchen
    November 18, 2014

    So sorry to hear about your oven; so frustrating! Hope it gets fixed as soon as possible, but at least you have a toaster now to play around with (and we will be the lucky gals getting to enjoy your recipes and posts). This cocktail is a stunner! I’m absolutely in love with the color and presentation. That candied rosemary sprig? Cutie!
    Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving! It has been a hard fall, so I hope you get to have a great time in Wisconsin. xx

    • Shellywest
      Sini | My Blue&White Kitchen
      November 20, 2014

      Thanks for the inspiring words, Sini! The oven is finally fixed and it couldn’t come at a better time (with the holidays approaching and all).

  • Jasmin
    November 18, 2014

    I always thought of pomegranate as a strange fruit, and never use it in my kitchen…
    Well, now I know how to start using it 🙂

    • Shellywest
      Jasmin
      November 20, 2014

      They are the best- I highly recommend you incorporating them into more recipes! I really enjoy them in baked good too as they give them most interesting texture and the pomegranate flavor bursts in your mouth when the seeds break.

  • Grace
    November 18, 2014

    Ugh, that sucks. We just moved into a house with a crappy electric flat top stove. I hate it. The new gas one can’t come soon enough… #firstworldproblems
    But cheers to the holidays! The only thanksgiving tradition my family has is boozing it up before noon – this beautiful punch looks like the best way to celebrate!

    • Shellywest
      Grace
      November 20, 2014

      Hahaha – first world problems for sure – at least we acknowledge it! Have a great holiday, Grace!

  • Sherrie | With Food + Love
    November 20, 2014

    Six weeks without an oven?!?! Holy cow. Seriously, that is tough. I’m super into this cocktail though, yay for cranberry and pomegranate season. xo

  • Super Veggie Sage Stuffing with Brussels Broccoli and Kale + a giveaway! - With Food + Love
    November 21, 2014

    […] glasses of this earl grey cider cocktail + this pomegranate cranberry punch. These sweet potato pancakes to nibble on. This broccoli + fennel soup to slurp on. Then a […]

  • 8 Food Blog Links We Love | Support Paula Deen
    November 21, 2014

    […] on top by (clockwise) Vegetarian Ventures, My Name is Yeh, The Bojon Gourmet, I Am a Food […]

  • almost eleventy thanksgiving recipes : the briny
    November 21, 2014

    […] sour roasted apple tisane beet balsamic shrub spiced pepitas + maple horchata with apple brandy pomegranate cranberry rum punch with candied rosemary [pictured; end of post] butterbeer hot pumpkin buttered rum vanilla bean hot buttered rum spiced […]

  • london bakes | winter pavlova with cranberries and candied rosemary {gluten free}
    December 4, 2014

    […] I can see that as I can’t take any credit for the flavour combination, it all comes from this pomegranate/cranberry rum punch that Shelly posted last week. It’s sweet and fragrant and floral and I want it on […]

  • yoanna
    December 11, 2014

    Beautiful <3

  • Links with Love im November | Chestnut & Sage
    June 21, 2015

    […] Weihnachtsvorbereitungen. Beginnen mit einem guten Drink. […]

  • Vegetarian Thanksgiving Menu
    November 6, 2016

    […] Pomegranate Cranberry Rum Punch with Candied Rosemary […]

  • Cranberry Orange Champagne Mimosa with Candied Rosemary
    December 14, 2016

    […] Champagne not your thing? Try this Pomegranate Cranberry Punch I made two years ago […]

  • Cranberry Orange Punch With Cranberry-Rosemary Ice Ring
    December 11, 2018

    […] Pomegranate Cranberry Rum Punch […]

Leave a Reply

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.