Oxford Night Caps by Richard Cook (1860, p.23) — Oxford 1860

6 wholelemon juice — juice of lemonsacid
1 wholeSeville orange juice — juice of Seville orangeacid
1 wholeSeville orange peel — Seville orange peel oil on loaf sugaracid
1 bottlebrandy — white brandybase
1 lemonlemon peel — lemon peel oil on loaf sugarbase
3 pintswater — boiling waterdilution
0.5 ozbitter almond — bitter almondsother
3 ozsweet almond — sweet almondsother
1 bottlecapillaire sweetener
0.25 poundsugar — loaf sugarsweetener
  1. Mix the citrus oils, citrus juices, capillaire, and loaf sugar in a jug.
  2. Pour on three pints of boiling water, cover closely, and keep near the fire for a quarter hour.
  3. Gradually work the pounded sweet and bitter almonds into a bottle of white brandy.
  4. Add the almond-brandy mixture to the jug, stir well, and serve if sufficiently sweet.

This sits close to noyeau-style flavor territory but achieves it through whole almonds rather than a prepared liqueur.

The gradual incorporation of pounded almonds into brandy is the key structural move.

Related recipes

See also: Egg Punch, Shrub Punch, Noyeau Punch

The almonds are blanched, pounded fine, and gradually mixed with the brandy before joining the base.