German Erdbeer Bowle (strawberry Wine Punch)

Total Time: 3 hrs Preparation Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 1 kg fresh strawberries
• 100 g powdered sugar
• 1/2 bunch lemon balm leaves (or lemon rind, see note in instructions)
• 4 (3/4 liter) bottles wine
• 1 (3/4 liter) bottle champagne

Recipe

• 1 2-3 hours before your guests arrive, wash the strawberries,drain well and pat dry.
• 2 halve the berries, then place them in the bottom of large punch bowl or glass pitcher.
• 3 sprinkle the powdered sugar over them.
• 4 rinse the lemon balm leaves and shake them dry.
• 5 pluck the leaves from their stems and add them to the berries.
• 6 pour one bottle of wine over the berry mixture, cover, and cool in the fridge.
• 7 when the guests have arrived, add the remaining wine and the champagne.
• 8 lemon balm is an herb in the mint family common in europe; if unavailable then use a vegetable peeler to cut about 5-6 long narrow curls of lemon rind in place of the balm (remove before serving).