Ingredients
Drink
- 1 litrepineapple ice cream, or lemon sorbet
- 2 bottlescold sparkling wine, espumante
Optional
- 200 mlpisco, or white rum
- 1 tinpineapple chunks, drained and chilled
To serve
- a large punch bowl
- a ladle
- wide glasses or coupes
Directions
- Chill the sparkling wine hard, chill the bowl, and chill the glasses. Warm wine melts the ice cream on contact and you end up with a bowl of sweet foam. Put the bowl in the freezer for half an hour before you start.
- Take the ice cream out of the freezer only 5 minutes before serving. Scoop the ice cream into the chilled bowl in generous balls.
- Leave it in whole scoops rather than breaking it up. The scoops should float and slowly melt, and they are what people ladle into their glass.
- Add the pineapple chunks now if you are using them. Pour the sparkling wine over slowly, down the side of the bowl. Add the pisco now if you want it stronger, which many households do. Do not stir the bowl at any point.
- Leave it alone entirely. Ladle it immediately into wide glasses, making sure each gets a scoop of ice cream and plenty of wine.
- Serve it at once, and make it at the moment you want to drink it rather than in advance. It has a working life of about fifteen minutes before it becomes soup, which is why it is made at five to midnight.
- Use a dry or brut sparkling wine rather than a sweet one, because the ice cream brings all the sugar the drink needs. Bottled ready-made versions are sold in Chilean supermarkets through December, which tells you how fixed the tradition is.
Technique
- Pineapple is the traditional flavour and lemon, mango and passion fruit all appear.
- It is served alongside cola de mono, the Chilean Christmas milk punch.
- Non-alcoholic versions with sparkling white grape juice are made for children.
Substitutions
- Lemon sorbet in place of pineapple ice cream.
- Any dry sparkling wine, cava or prosecco.
Variations
- With pisco added for strength.
- Made with lemon sorbet.
- Non-alcoholic, with sparkling grape juice.
History
A Chilean New Year’s Eve tradition, ladled from bowls at midnight parties.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ponche a la romana?
Ponche a la romana is a cocktail from Chile: pineapple ice cream floated in sparkling wine, drunk at New Year. A Chilean New Year’s Eve tradition, ladled from bowls at midnight parties.
How long does Ponche a la romana take to make?
Ponche a la romana takes 10 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Ponche a la romana?
Yes, within limits. Lemon sorbet in place of pineapple ice cream. Any dry sparkling wine, cava or prosecco.
What is the most important thing to get right in Ponche a la romana?
Leave it in whole scoops rather than breaking it up. The scoops should float and slowly melt, and they are what people ladle into their glass.
