Proud as Punch of This Fruit Cup Recipe

Fruit Cup (Mrs T. McGregor Smith)
pg 87

• 1 pineapple (topped and tailed with skin removed)
• 1 lemon
• 3 oranges
• 250ml fruit juice (I used guava nectar)
• 250ml strongly brewed black tea
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 250ml water
• 1.25L bottle of lemonade.

 Boil the sugar and water together in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and leave to cool.  Juice the lemon and oranges.  Juice the pineapple.  (Note - I used a high-power food processor/juicer to do this but you could grate and crush the pineapple to remove it's juice if you don't have access to a similar appliance.)  Combine the lemon, orange and pineapple juices with the fruit juice, the black tea and the cooled sugar syrup.  Refrigerate the mixture until it is cold.  Just prior to serving, add the chilled lemonade. 

Serving suggestions include the addition of crystallised cherries to the serving glasses - or fresh blueberries and fresh mint leaves as I did. 

I had a mighty large punch bowl to fill and a large number of guests to serve so I doubled the recipe.  Unfortunately it was way beyond the needs of the party so I ended up having to discard the leftover drink a few days afterwards.

The recipe produced a very delicious beverage which was well received all 'round at the party it was served at. 

I'd be interested to make it again with a different flavoured fruit juice rather than guava to see how the flavour changes.  I also have plans to make it again sometime with more black tea and a bit less lemonade.   If you try this recipe with the recommended peach juice I'd love to hear how you liked it!

About Mrs T. McGregor Smith

I've recently had the great opportunity of talking with a lovely lady of the City Tabernacle Baptist Church, Glenys.  As a long-term member of the church she was able to remember some of the ladies who are listed in the book or provide a few interesting facts about the families they came from.  She was also able to give a definite date for the book - 1941. 


If you are reading this entry - thank you again for all of your help Glenys.  It was lovely meeting you and getting a chance to look through the church. 

Mrs T. McGregor Smith's husband was a life deacon of the church (which means he served the church for 20 years without a break).   Her home, named "Earlwood" was in Ashgrove, Brisbane. She had a daughter, Alma who was engaged to Eric Ballinger in 1942.  

In 1936 she spent the Christmas holidays with Alma at Chelmsford Esplanade at the Gold Coast.  Can't you just imagine mother and daughter reading together on the deck, sipping a glass of her favourite fruit cup or enjoying the golden sand and salty spray of the water in their cossies?