Floating Island Punch

As the original recipe, I give it 3 stars.... the way I made it, I would give it 5. Here were my modifications: Instead of orange juice and lemonade, I substituted pink lemonade and wild berry concentrates, only used 1/2 pint of sherbet, and added the carbonated things LAST so the sherbet wouldn't cut out the carbonation! I used this for a baby shower and it was a HUUUUGE hit!

Excellent punch! Made this yesterday for my daughter's 1st birthday party. Needed a pink punch, so my changes were perfect. Kept just about everything the same, but made a few good changes based on all the reviews posted about it being too sweet. These are the changes I made: TOTALLY omitted the sugar water syrup...definitely not needed. Used a 2 liter bottle of Raspberry Ginger Ale instead of the regular ginger ale and carbonated water. The ginger ale taste, not Sprite, is the key. Used 1 can of frozen fruit punch instead of the orange juice, used pink lemonade instead of regular lemonade, used raspberry sherbet instead of orange. To mix - Add the cans of frozen concentrate to your punch bowl, pour in the raspberry ginger ale, stir until dissolved, pour in the cherry juice and cherries making sure to leave out enough cherries to place on top of each orange slice. Add the ice, stir, add the raspberry sherbet in scoops. Stir. Place the oranges on top and put a cherry in the middle of each orange slice. Delicious! Still somewhat of a sweet punch, but the taste was fabulous. Got many, many compliments and people were asking how I made it. This recipe is definitely a keeper that I will use over and over again!

I made this punch for a friend's wedding and it was a hit. I did make a frozen ice ring for the bowl and layed pineapple rings and cherries in the ice ring. I got lots of nice comments. Can also add rum or tequila to an individual serving for some "kick".

This punch was excellent! I made it for a baby shower that I hosted over the weekend and it was a huge hit! I usually dont like punch and I liked this one. Cherries should be set on top of the orange slices. They dont float by themselves.

My husband and I made this punch for some friends and it got rave reviews. I would definitely make it again. The only change - when tasting we thought it was too sweet, so we added another liter each of ginger ale and carbonated water. Excellent!

Made this for my one-year-olds party and all the adults LOVED it! My sister even requested it for her bridal shower. I did make some changes: I used 2 ltrs. Squirt instead of the ginger ale/carbonated water, I didn't use the cherries at all, and I used raspberry sherbet instead (we did an Elmo theme, so the red helped me out.) I also floated some of those Wilton candy decs (usually for cupcakes?) in the shape of Elmo on top and everyone thought that was sooooo cute/cool. Also, I kept waiting for the syrup to get "thick", until my science teacher husband said that the properties of the two ingredients wouldn't allow that to happen...the syrup was pretty thin and thickened a little as it cooled.

This punch is GREAT!!! I made it for my best friend's bridal shower, and everyone loved it. People were grabbing the orange slices in the bottom of the bowl just for the flavor. I had to make a second bowl in the middle of the party. The sugar syrup was a little difficult to figure out correctly, but even with that snag, the punch turned out beautifully. I would recommend this to anyone!

MMM, its very good, but one peice of advice: the cherries dont float, even the ones without pits. it is fine with me to scrape them off the bottom, but be careful, with the orange slices you might get a couple of seeds as well. very good recipe however. :)

I made this recipe for a bridal shower and everyone loved it! It has a great flavor and the sherbert adds a little extra sweetness. The bride-to-be liked it so much, that she is thinking about having it as her punch at the wedding. This is a wonderful punch recipe. THANKS!

I made this for my daughter's first birthday party and everyone absolutely loved it. I was nervous that it would be too sweet given that you add 2 cups of sugar, but I followed the recipe exactly and was pleasantly surprised. I received several comments about how impressive it looked with the orange slices and cherries floating on top. I will definitely make this again. Thanks for sharing!

I made this punch for a baby shower and everyone loved it!!!!! Many people asked me for the recipe. The sherbet gives the punch an excellent flavor that is not typically tasted in other punches-I LOVE THIS PUNCH!!!

I made this for my sister-in-law's luau, doubling it for the large crowd, and it disappeared VERY fast! Everyone loved it, and I look forward to an occasion to make it again as soon as possible...

I absolutely loved it...and so did my guests at my last THREE showers that I've held!! Perfect for bridal or baby showers!

A big hit at a bridal shower i threw and at my sister's b'day party. Great recipe! Tip: Make sure you go with pulp free orange juice as i didn't pay attention to that while buying it the first time.

I made this for a baby shower today, and everyone LOVED it!! Followed the recipe exactly. Will make again.

Awesome punch...however, I did leave out the sugar mixture and only used 3/4 of the frozen lemonade and frozen orange juice...this was a big hit!!!

I served this delicious punch at a wedding shower and it was a hit with everyone. Thanks so much Kathy

I made this for a baby shower. Everyone LOVED it. I had to give the recipie out to everyone.

Excellent punch! I made this for my sister's bridal shower, and it was a really big hit! I did have a little trouble making the water/sugar syrup, and the day after it was a little too sweet, but it still turned out great!

I made this for thanksgiving this year, and there wasn't a drop left. A great nonalcoholic option, this came together very easily and was enjoyed by kids and adults alike. I used only one cup of sugar and that was plenty. The color was a little ugly but using pink lemonade plus the addition of cherry juice fixed that right up.

This was the first thing to disappear on the food table!! We had bought a bag of frozen fruit at Sam's and threw a handful of that in also. When making it again, I would use two liters of ginger ale. I think the prep time is a little underestimated. We saved this for the last thing to make and were scrambling around at the last minute

We thought this was pretty good. We enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.

I made this punch for a friend's baby shower and ended up giving the recipe to 4 people before it was over. Wonderful punch!!

Made this for a small gathering at our home. We omitted the cherries and cherry-juice however since many posters had said it was too sweet. Not a good idea--the punch was then too heavy-tasting on the orange juice side. However, still a pretty good punch.

This is really a nice, refreshing punch! I made it for a family gathering, and, it was liked by both children and adults!

I made this for a bridal shower & got rave reviews from everyone. I did cut the sugar amount down to 3/4 cup & it was not to sweet as many other reviews stated, I also used a little more ginger ale than what was called for. I will be using this recipe again!

This recepie is wonderful..I made it at my sister-in-law's baby shower and everyone loved it..It was the first to go..

I took the suggestions for the others and this is how I made this: 1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen pink lemonade concentrate 1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen fruit punch concentrate 1 pint lime/raspberry/orange sherbet 2 liter raspberry ginger ale 1 (4 ounce) jar maraschino cherries (juice) 1 orange, sliced in rounds I made this for the kids attending a birthday party. Wouldn't you know - the adults drank most of it! This was a huge hit.

I thought this tasted ok but judging by how much was left over, no one else did! Not as wonderful as other reviews would have you believe...probably more suited to kids parties than adult tastes.

Made this for a shower. It was a big hit. Some of the guests told me that they usually do not like "orange" beverages, but they really enjoyed this puch. It was really great. I followed many of the others reviews and used less sugar.

Absolutely delicious. Have tried it twice and both times it has disappeared.

I made this punch for a bridal shower and followed the sugg. of previous reviews. I omitted the sugar water, didn't need it. I used pink lemonaide and fruit punch concentrate, 2 liters of cranberry ginger ale, 1 liter carbanated water, and orange sherbert, sliced oranges with cherry on top, but I didn't put the rest of the cherries in it. I also didn't add the ice.It was so good people were asking for the recipe. I will def. make it again!

I followed the other reviews and didn't add the sugar syrup. I made this for my baby shower and I couldn't get enough of it. I used Cranberry juice as well. My friends were adding it to their champagne and absolutley loved it so there is an alocholic version.

This was an excellent recipe. I, did however substitute a few things. Insead of frozen OJ I, used frozen wild berry and I, also waited until i was about to serve the punch until i added the soda and carbonated water.

This was awesome punch!! I made a few personal adjustments. I added sprite instead of seltzer, floated Oranges, lemons, and lime wedges (all with Cherries) and added 2 tablespoons of the maraschino cherry juice. I also made the simple syrup the night before and refrigerated it over night. It was really simple to make and HUGE hit!!

The FLAVOR of this recipe was good, but it was way, way, way too sweet. I added a lot more seltzer and it was still too sweet, but everyone still liked it. So if you don't like very sweet drinks, I would recommend on cutting back on the sugar. Actually, I made this a second time and left it out completely and it was still sweet enough for me....

Awesome recipe! I had to organize the Valentine's party at work and this punch was a huge hit! I did substitute the orange concentrate with fruit punch, used raspberry sherbet, halved the sugar and used sprite in place of the carbonated water. It was a pretty pink colour for Valentines day and I have handed out the recipe many times over already. Thank you for sharing Kathy!! I will be using this for all our work parties and trying different flavours and sherbets according to the particular theme, perhaps even adding some food colouring for St.Patricks and lemon lime sherbet..mmm.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........

This was the best punch I ever had. It was pretty and sweet and different from other punchs. I made it twice during the Christmas season and everyone loved it. It does take a little longer to make however then the recipe says. I suggest making the syrup an hour or two in advance and putting it in the fridge. It takes time to cool off and if you try to throw this togeather last minute, your guests will be waiting. Mine were, but it was worth it.

This was a very tasty recipe but I thought that it was just too sweet! The guests at my baby shower liked it but also agreed that it was too sweet. I think that if I had not added the sugar or cut it way down it would have been a lot better! I will use the recipe again but won't use the sugar. :)

I made this punch for a bridal shower this past weekend with the suggested modifications from the comments of others. It turned out great. I did not have a drop left! I went with frozen pink lemonade and frozen fruit punch, 2 liters of gingerale and raspberry flavored carbonated water. Loved it! Thanks!

This was the best punch I have had in a very very long time! My sister made this at my baby shower and everybody loved it and asked how she made it. Yet I don't think she did the boiled sugar/syrup bit.

Too sweet. Didn't even use the sugar and it was still too sweet. There are better punches out there...

i followed another review that said to replace the frozen concentrates with pink lemonade concentrate and berry concentrate and the punch turned out fantastic! i made this for a baby shower and it was a huge hit!

Excellent punch recipe. We left out the sugar syrup(may use a small amount on our next time). We used pink lemonade, fruit punch concentrate and cranberry gingerale. We topped it with raspberry sorbet to make it for a baby girl as others have suggested. I froze individule ice molds using mini bundt pans(they were silicone, found at the $1 store. I put a pineapple slice in the center and pilled it with fruit punch. It worked out very well.

The punch tasted okay but.... when I poured the sugar in, it hardened and got sticky. It stuck to all the cherries and the ladle, which shattered when I tried to pull it out.

We made this for my father's birthday party, It is a wonderful punch, but VERY sweet, even without the sherbet. We doubled the amount of carbonated water, and it was still pretty sweet. I suggest doubling the carbonated water and adding only about 1 cup of the syrup, especially if you plan on including the sherbet. Once we did that, the punch disappeared faster than I could make it!

The Punch was of great delight. I made three different ones for a group of friends to chose from for a Church Event. Everyone but 1 out of a group of 10 people picked the Floating Island Punch. I did sub a few things. I used Pink Lemonade concentrate, Fruit Punch concentrate, and Rainbow Sherbet. I didn't use the carbonated Water and Sugar. Thanks for sharing this Recipe with us!

Good recipe with a few changes. Instead of the ginger ale, sparkling water, sugar mixture, I substituted two liters of Sprite. It has been a hit at both baby showers I have made it for.

This is a great punch, but you definitely don't need the sugar syrup! I love sweet things and it was plenty sweet enough for me without it! Also, as suggested by others, I added the carbonated liquids last which was a good idea. For my daughter's first birthday party, I froze Elmo's heads from "Wilton" into muffin tins with water so they could float around as the ice cubes - so cute!

The party LOVED this punch! Will make again!

This is the best punch ever! It was a huge hit at a baby shower i hosted. Highly reccomend!!

I accidentally bought two lemonades, and it was still good! I borrowed from the "snowball" punch ideas and floated vanilla ice cream on top. Tasty!

Served this at a combo Easter brunch/birthday party for my son, and received rave reviews. Several folks commented that it was the best punch they've ever tasted. I omitted the sugar syrup completely, and it was plenty sweet without it. Thanks for a terrific recipe!

Very tasty!

Was a big hit at a recent baby shower -- everyone wanted the recipe. However, I did notice I wasnt successful in making the sugar water a "syrup." It never did thicken (is it really supposed to?). And, as others have noted, they leave this step out b/c it is very sweet. One thing I did note, I only made one small batch of the sugar mix, and I doubled all the rest of the items, and the single batch of sugar mix was plenty for both batches I made of the punch. I am making it again tomorrow, and will also leave it out like others noted, as all the other ingredients make the punch sweet. Also, I made the mistake in getting just a can of cherries in water, and didnt notice "marchino" cherries were on the actual recipe....and the other cherries were smooshy while floating in the punch -- really looked like dark red blobs! not very pretty. Will purchase the right cherries next time. Overall, very easy and good!

This was a very delicious punch. The reason I am giving it 4 stars is because it was too sweet. I suggest that you leave out the syrup. It really didn't need it. What the guests at the shower ended up doing was watering it down with seltzer. Was very pretty.

This was the best punch ever! I also made modifications based on other users' reviews. I omitted the sugar water & carbonated water, substituted pink lemonade concentrate & raspberry punch concentrate, used raspberry sherbet instead of orange, and used 2 liters of ginger ale. I think the raspberry flavor, along with the cherry juice, is what makes this punch so great. Everybody loved it! This was my first ever attempt at making punch for a party, and I'll definitely make it from now on.

It was a hit on my baby shower. Only change I did - I din made the sugar syrup. Simply mixed all the ingredients in one go except for the cherries. At the time of serving decorated with orange slices with cherries on top. Everyone loved it ! Thanks

Easy to make and great tasting. Beware it is very sweet, I would recommend adding a little extra ice. Tasted best when most of the ice had melted.

I made this for a babyshower and doubled the recipe for 15 people. Very little punch was left and everyone raved about how tasty it was. I would definitely make this one again.

What a great Punch. I should of doubled the recipe it went so quick. I received numerous compliments. Kids and Adults LOVED it!!

Great punch! It was a hit at my sons first birthday party. I did exactly as the recipe called for. The only thing I would change is the amount of sugar. One cup is plenty. You get a lot of sugar with the other juices.

This was really good! I did change it but not on purpose. I made this before my daughters birthday party so I didn't have a lot of time and needed something quick and easy. I started boiling my water and added my sugar and it took about 10 minutes to get to a syrup. I then dumped it into the container that had all the other ingredients and the sugar syrup turned into a hard sugar ball. So I didn't have time to mess with it so I mixed everything together without the sugar syrup. It tasted excellent and I think if I had added the sugar it would have been way to sweet. I will definitely keep this one around because it is so quick, there is no freezing a ring or anything. Very good!

This went over really well with my guests! I used fruit punch, pink lemonade and raspberry sherbert. I also omitted the water/sugar syrup. I will definatly make this again!

It was good however I would reduce the amount of sugar I use next time.

I recieved so many compliments after serving this at my girls 1st birthday party. It went very well with the cake.

Went over as a great hit at our Halloween Party with kids and adults alike. I left out the cherries and orange slices, and used no simple syrup. Only the concentrates, gingerale, club soda, and orange sherbet. I had a floating green "hand" ice ring to add to the Halloween fun. Great recipe.

This recipe was a HUGE hit at a Baby Shower that I had for my sister! EVERYONE was asking me what was in it, and where I got the recipe! I barely got a glass for myself before it was gone! I will DEFFINANTLY make it again. The tip about placing the Cherries on top of the Orange Slices was good, they will sink to the bottom if not.

It was a hit as is. I didn't make any alterations. It was pretty sweet so next time I'll try it without the extra sugar. I am sure it'll be just as good!

I use this all the time for parties. Everyone always loves it.

I made this punch yesterday for a baby shower. As other people recommended, I omitted the simple syrup. I also used 2 liters of ginger ale insted of 1. I received many compliments on the punch! I would definitely make it again.

very good! i couldn't find orange sherbet in a pint size so i substituted mango sorbet and it was still tasty. everyone at the shower loved it and it was the perfect color to go with a 'little pumpkins' baby shower! i'm forwarding the link to 2 of the guests!

Following the #1 suggestion, this is delicious

loved it! so awesome

WOW! What a GREAT punch! I served this for a bridal shower luncheon and was a hit...a real keeper!

Very Very good with a few alterations! I used berry juice concentrate instead of the orange juice and used pink lemonade instead of regular. I also didn't add the extra 2 cups of sugar, it did NOT need it! I used a bit more sherbert than the recipe called for maybe that is why it didn't need the extra sugar! It looked really pretty with the orange slices and the cherries in the punch.

Made this punch for a bridal shower recently and, as recommended by some, omitted the addition of the sugar syrup. The punch was excellent and really did not need the addition of the syrup! I've received so many compliments and requests for this recipe that I now carry additional copies of it with me! Highly recommend and will definitely be making this again and again for other parties.

I made this punch for my grandson's birthday party. Followed the exact directions and found it too sweet for my taste. I had others taste it as well and the overall consensus was "too sweet." Fortunately, I had an extra liter of carbonated water to add to it. If I make this again, I will either cut the sugar to one cup or plan to add two liters of the carbonated water. With the extra liter the punch was good with the right amount of sweetness.

Very sweet, but goes over so well at every party I host.

I made this exactly as the recipe called for my daughter's 2nd birthday party and I along with everyone else loved it. We did not think it was too sweet at all...it's punch and it's supposed to be sweet!! It reminded me of one of those orange sherbert push-up pops. Thanks for the recipe! I will definately make again, especially with warm weather on the way.

Excellent! I've made this for a baby shower and an anniversary party and it went over great. Both times it was gone well before the party was over.

Made this for our family Christmas party. I eliminated the water/sugar mixture based on other reviews that it made it too sweet. This punch tasted great!!! However, it was not the color pictured. In the picture it looks more red, where as mine was more dark orange and I think this was a turn off.

Got rave reviews on this punch at a baby shower on Saturday. I followed the advice of others and did not use the simple syrup. Used 1 can each of OJ and pink lemonade, ginger ale, Talking Rain Citrus twist water for the carbonated water, and lemon sorbet as I couldn't find a small orange sherbet. Instead of ice, which I think waters it down, I cut and froze rounds of Cara Cara oranges. The first batch of punch was gone about 5 minutes after I made it. I didn't count on this, so had to improve with a second batch without all the ingredients. Thanks for the recipe of an easy to make punch that is very tasty.

don't add the sugar and it is very tasty!

Yummy - this is going to be my new punch receipe. It was so good - I made two batches for a birthday party and still didn't have a drop left. Adults and kids loved it. I made the receipe at written, but can't wait to try it with fruit punch and rasberry sherbet too.

I'm typically not a huge punch fan, but this is delicious!!! I thought it was a little too sweet, so next time I may only add 1 cup of sugar. Also, my cherries didn't float--I don't know why they sank, but I may leave those out next time! But delicious recipe!!!

My family loved this recipe. Made for New Years Eve and it was gone in no time. Thanks!

I made this for my sons birthday party. No one could get enough. I did add more soda water to dull the sweetness but otherwise it is Delicous!!!

Sooo.. good! Had it at my baby shower, and it went very fast!

Always a hit! One of my "regulars."

i made this delicious drink tonight and my whole family loved it!!!!:) I kept everything the same and it turned out fine, im making this for the banquet this year. It rocked!!!!!!!!!!!!!! keep it the same, it'll taste great, if serving 2 people who dont like sparkleing taste, try useing less carbinated water and ginger ale:)

WAY too sweet...even for the kids

I made this for a baby shower and the family loved it. I did half regular Canada dry ginger ale and half crab-raspberry ginger ale. I added lemon orange and pineapple slices

delicious. I didnt use the sugar water. added a packet of unsweetened cherry drink and used all ginger ale. Also used rainbow sherbet. so good.

I made this punch for my son's first birthday party. It was a big hit. Good recipe and easy to adjust to your liking. I found it a little too sweet so I added more of the sodas.

Thank you so much for sharing this--it is wonderful and my friend wants to use it at the next shower.

Very sweet!

I have made this a few times and it is always delicious. The first time I used the sugar syrup and it was pretty sweet but not inedible. The next few times I left out the syrup and thought it was more refreshing. Thanks for the recipe!