guest post: lena {la petite coquin}

Today, Lena of La Petite Coquin is filling in for me! You may remember her from this fabulous wedding shoe post.  I simply adore this girl… to the point where I think David is over what he thought was weird daily gushing about her and now thinks it is normal. Without further ado, Lena:

flaming brandy punch

My introduction to a red wine punch like this one came from a dear friend getting her Masters in Germany; every Christmas she’d gush over the glühwein served around the holidays. So when Chelsea told me that she and her sweetheart were headed to Europe for a Holiday Honeymoon, the first thing that came to mind was sharing a steaming mug of mulled wine, while wandering a Christmas market in Bavaria. We might not all be headed to the Continent this year, but I know I’ll be serving this flaming glühwein at our holiday party!

Flaming Brandy Punch Recipe

• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar, packed
• 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 4-inch orange peel
• 2 750 ml bottles dry red wine
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 cups brandy
• 1 whole nutmeg

Bring the first 5 ingredients to boil in large pot, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add wine; stir to heat through. Pour mixture into large heatproof punch bowl. Add orange and lemon juice. Holding ladle over punch bowl, fill ladle with brandy; carefully ignite. Pour into punch bowl and allow flame to burn out. Mix in remaining brandy. Grate nutmeg over punch and serve.

Recipe c/o Bon Appetit, Photo by Gabriella Imperatori-Penn.