I love lemonade all year round, but in the summer I love it even more. As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. It’s very simple: lemonade + strawberries = heaven. I think what I love most about this recipe is that it is easily adapted to different tastes. I think it tastes great, but it is quite sweet - a little too sweet for Ben. So, if you like things a bit less sweet, use less sugar. The strawberry flavor is pretty strong so if you want more lemon shining through - use more lemon juice (or less strawberry sauce). Give this a try, it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser! And just for the record I did strain my strawberry sauce but still ended up with seeds in my drink…but I like that better anyway, so it’s fine with me :)
Strawberry Lemonade
Ingredients:
¾ cup sugar
1 cup very hot water
1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 6 good sized lemons)
4 ½ cups cold water
1 recipe fresh strawberry sauce (below)
sugar, lemon slices, fresh strawberries for garnish
Directions:
In a pitcher, combine the sugar and hot water and stir until the sugar has dissolved into a syrup. Stir in the lemon juice and cold water.
Add the strawberry sauce and stir to combine.
Pour over ice into tall glasses rimmed with sugar. Garnish with fresh strawberries or lemon slices. Lemonade will keep at least three days in the refrigerator.
For the fresh strawberry sauce:
1 dry pint fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. cold water
In a food processor or blender, puree the berries, sugar, lemon juice and water until smooth. Strain the mixture into a clean bowl and discard the seeds. Stir in additional sugar, if needed. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Source: adapted from Made by Melissa, originally from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy
I made these two mornings in a row, once following their recipe and once with my changes. I have to say, my way tasted MUCH better. I used vanilla yogurt instead of plain, and instead of using not-frozen pineapple and frozen banana I used frozen pineapple and not-frozen banana. (Get that?) Also, I like to put the ice into the blender before the rest of the ingredients and crush it on its own so there are no chunks in the smoothie. I especially love this because it’s a great excuse to buy a whole pineapple and then you have lots of leftover fruit to have as a snack for days.
