Snowman Punch Recipes

CHEESY SNOWMAN

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine cream cheese (reserve a spoonful for hat), 1/2 cup Monterey Jack, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Freeze until firm, 30 minutes.
• Shape mixture into 3 balls; roll balls in remaining Monterey Jack. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
• Just before serving, stack balls; secure with toothpicks. Use vegetable peeler to shave celery scarf; pin with clove. Cut bread into 1- and 1 1/2-inch rounds; glue hat together with cream cheese, then secure with toothpick. Punch dots from olives with plain round pastry tips, and cut end off carrot; press in place. Serve with crackers.

MELTED SNOWMAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat egg whites lightly in a large bowl using an electric mixer until frothy. Slowly beat enough confectioners' sugar into egg whites to make icing that will hold shape; blend in lemon juice until desired consistency is reached.
• Arrange cookies about 1-inch apart on a large sheet of waxed paper. Spread icing onto each cookie, allowing icing to drip over edges to look like melting snow.
• Grease a microwave-safe plate. Place 1 marshmallow onto plate.
• Microwave marshmallow until it starts to puff up, 20 to 30 seconds. Immediately place marshmallow on the edge of 1 cookie while the icing is still wet to look like a melted snowman. Repeat with remaining marshmallows and iced cookies.
• Decorate 'melted snowmen' by piping 'twig-like arms' using black decorating gel on the icing. Make 'coal eyes' and a 'mouth' on the marshmallow using black decorating gel. Make a 'carrot nose' under the 'coal eyes' using orange decorating gel. Make 'coat buttons' by arranging silver nonpareils down the middle of the icing. Make 'scarves' or 'bow-ties' using red decorating gel or green decorating gel.
• Allow cookies to fully dry before removing from waxed paper, at least 1 hour.

SNOWMAN PUNCH

Steps:

• Chill a baking sheet in the freezer for 20 minutes. Scoop the vanilla ice cream into the roundest balls you can make with an ice cream scoop and place on the chilled baking sheet. Scoop one ball of vanilla into a ball twice the size of the others. Scoop the orange sherbet into a ball half the size of the medium vanilla balls, leaving a bit of a ruffle around the bottom (this will become the snowman's hat). Reserve the remaining sherbet for another use. Freeze the balls until solid, about 1 hour, or until ready to serve. Chill a large punch bowl in the freezer until it is very cold, about 30 minutes.
• Reserve 1 medium vanilla ice cream ball and pile the rest of the medium balls in the middle of the punch bowl.
• To make the snowman, center the large vanilla ball on top of the snowball pile. Insert 5 chocolate chips in a line down one side of the large ball for buttons (press the pointy tops of the chips into the ball). Top the large ball with the reserved medium ball for the head and press in the 2 remaining chocolate chips for eyes. Add a jelly bean half for a nose. Wrap the candy belt around the neck for a scarf. Top with the orange sherbet ball for a hat. Add the mini marshmallow at the top for a pom-pom. You can assemble the snowman ahead of time and hold the punch bowl in the freezer up to 2 hours if you aren't immediately able to serve.
• Add the liquids in this order: Gin, orange liqueur, sparkling wine and seltzer. Sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar for snow. Serve the punch in coupe cocktail glasses (see Cook's Note), scooping an ice cream ball and some punch into each.

SNOWMAN EGGNOG

Steps:

• Whisk the eggs, egg yolk and sugar in a bowl until combined. Heat the milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until steaming; do not boil. Remove from the heat. Whisk 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, then whisk the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and a thermometer registers 165 degrees F, about 5 minutes. (Do not boil or the eggs will curdle.)
• Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl and stir in the vanilla and nutmeg. Let cool at room temperature, about 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.
• Place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave, stirring every 20 seconds, until just melted. Arrange four 8- to 10-ounce glasses (or lowball glasses) on a workspace. Using the tip of your pinky or a small paintbrush dipped in chocolate, paint 3 buttons and two arms on the inside of each glass.
• If desired, stir rum into the chilled eggnog mixture. Divide the eggnog evenly among the glasses. Whisk the remaining 1 1/2 cups heavy cream in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Fit a pastry bag with a large star tip, and fill the bag with whipped cream. Pipe a generous swirl of whipped cream on each glass of eggnog to make the snowmen's heads. Directly above each row of snowman buttons, place an apricot wedge into each whipped cream head to form a nose. Place two mini chips above each nose to form eyes. Serve immediately.