Pink Lemonade
Preparing a syrup naturally dyed pink from your favorite fruits is a glorious starting place for homemade pink lemonade. You can stir the syrup into a pitcher of lemon juice and water to enjoy right away, or keep the syrup in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, pulling from it like a sugar bowl for individual glasses of lemonade, cocktails or other drinks. You also can keep a chilled pitcher of the vibrant pink lemonade in your refrigerator as an act of kindness (and a jolt of vitamin C) for future you throughout the week. This hydrating lemonade is a little lighter in flavor than others, so you can drink lots and lots of it.
- Preparation:
- Cooking:
- Total:
- Serves: 10 persons
Ingredients
- 1pound fresh or frozen raspberries, halved strawberries, stemmed and pitted cherries or chopped rhubarb
- ⅔cup sugar
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1cup fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste (from 5 to 6 lemons)
- Ice, for serving
Instructions
Step 1
In a large saucepan, combine the fruit, sugar and 1⅔ cups water. Cook over medium-high, stirring occasionally and reducing the heat if bubbles start to rise out of the pan, until the syrup thickens a bit, at least 5 minutes and up to 15 minutes for frozen fruit. Stir in the salt.Step 2
Carefully strain the hot syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a large liquid measuring cup, pressing on the fruit to extract juices then discarding the fruit. You should have about 1¾ cups syrup; if you have more, return to the pan and boil longer. (The syrup can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 1 week.)Step 3
To make a pitcher of lemonade, stir the syrup into 7 cups of cold filtered water. Add the lemon juice, then stir to combine. Taste, adding more lemon juice as desired. (The lemonade can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 1 week.) Serve over ice.