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The Varnish's Milk Punch Recipe

The Varnish's Milk Punch Recipe
  • Category

    Brandy and Cognac

  • Cusine

    American

Ingredients

Peeled zest of 6 lemons plus 1 1/3 cups juice from a total of about 10 lemons

2 tablespoons superfine sugar

2 quarts whole milk

1 3/4 cups turbinado simple syrup

2 cups cognac, such as Pierre Ferrand 1840

1 quart demerara rum, such as El Dorado Five-Year

Garnish: freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

Place peeled zest in a non-reactive bowl or container. Add superfine sugar and muddle until the sugar starts to pull out the essential oil in the peels, about 5 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. After it sits, the peels will shrivel and the oils and sugar will combine into a fragrant syrup, called the oleo-saccharum. Heat milk in a large saucepan, stirring constantly, until steaming but not boiling. Off heat, add the oleo-saccharum , lemon juice, simple syrup, cognac, and rum. Stir vigorously until the curds and whey have separated. Strain mixture though a fine mesh strainer to remove curds and zest. Add more syrup or dilute with water to adjust sweetness. Serve warm or cold, topped with freshly grated nutmeg.