Ponche de Creme (pronounced punch-AH-crem locally) is a popular drink in Trinidad especially for the festive season. In this eggless version, the ackees provide the smooth creamy texture in place of the eggs and give some subtle nutty notes to the beverage.
Ponche de Creme
Sometimes referred to as Caribbean eggnog; it is typically a combination of eggs, condensed and evaporated milks and of course rum!
I have a massive slight obsession with cookbooks; collecting them and simply leafing through old ones. Even better than the recipes in old cookbooks sometimes, are the notes and other recipes scribbled by the previous owner. Over the years my Ponche de Creme recipe was one I found in my mom’s old cookbook which read:
“4 eggs; 1 can condensed milk; 1 can evaporated milk; 1 bottle of Vat19 Rum; lime rind, nutmeg, bitters”
I’d been living in Trinidad at the time and planned to get Vat19 rum to recreate her recipe. Thinking maybe she meant a flask, I called her to confirm that she did indeed mean an entire 750ml bottle (more than 3 cups) of rum 😆!
Eggless Ponche de Creme
My mom was visiting when this Ackee Ponche de Creme was created. It got her stamp of approval even with the rum reduced to a more manageable 2 cups! She was very impressed with how smooth it was. “You didn’t put any eggs in this at all?!” she asked incredulously. Then a satisfied and surprised wow! was all she could say when I confirmed it was indeed eggless.
Special thanks to mama as well who was my assistant for this shoot, look at the pour on that! 😊
You’ll notice that there is no lime included in this version and that’s simply because the lime rind would typically be used to cut the “rawness” of the egg. Since we’re not using eggs here it’s not necessary; however, if you want to infuse a little citrus flavour, I would recommend adding a bit of orange or lemon peel when chilling overnight.
Coquito
Ponche de Creme’s Puerto Rican counterpart is called Coquito (meaning little coconut). It is similar in the use of eggs or egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk. The main difference there is the use of coconut rum and sweetened cream of coconut or coconut milk, thus the name. Check out my Ackee Colada which has a similar blend of ingredients.
For eggless coquito using ackee:
- Replace the evaporated milk in the recipe with coconut milk
- Add a can of cream of coconut such as Coco Lopez or Goya
- Replace all or some of the golden rum with coconut rum
Vegan Ponche de Creme
Update 12/2018: Earlier this year I discovered Nature’s Charm coconut condensed and evaporated milks. We tried their condensed milk and it’s so delicious!
If you want to make a vegan version of this Ponche de creme vegan. Simply replace the condensed and evaporated milks with their vegan counterparts such as these ones from Nature’s Charm:
Vegan Coquito
And for vegan coquito:
- Make the same changes as for the Eggless Coquito using ackee above
- Replace the condensed milk with coconut condensed milk
What do you think?
As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. If you make this or any of the recipes from this site, be sure to snap a pic and #amazingackee or @amazingackee so I can see your creations across social media.
Until next time, thanks for stopping by 😊
Ackee Ponche de Creme
Ingredients
- 1 cup Parboiled/Canned Ackee
- 1 can Condensed Milk (see variations)
- 1 can Evaporated Milk (see variations)
- 2 cups Golden Rum (see variations)
- A couple dashes Angostura Bitters
Optional
- Freshly grated nutmeg to taste
- Ground cinnamon to taste
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients till completely smooth. Strain into a glass pitcher and chill for at least an hour or overnight (it will develop a better flavour the longer it sits).
- To serve, pour into chilled glasses over ice and grate more nutmeg or a sprinkle of ground cinnamon over top
Notes
- Replace evaporated and condensed milks with their vegan counterparts;
- Replace evaporated milk with coconut milk
- Add a can of sweetened cream of coconut
- Replace all or some of the golden rum with coconut rum
- Make the same changes as above and replace the condensed milk with its vegan counterpart
https://nutrifox.com/recipes/22275/edit