Real lemonade
Nothing quite tastes
Home-made lemonade, or real lemonade, is quite special. Why? Because it really tastes of lemons and is very, very refreshing on a hot summer’s day. |
It's a great soft drink for a picnic and so much better for kids than commercial fizzy pop.
If you’re in a country like Spain or Italy where lemons are cheap, then so much the better. However, I still think you’ll find this recipe cheaper to make in the UK than buying bottles of commercial fizz.
All you need are (surprise, surprise!) 6 large lemons and 150 grams of white sugar.
For best results, START THE DAY BEFORE YOU WANT TO DRINK IT.
Try and buy unwaxed lemons and then you just have to rinse them. If you have waxed lemons, then you’ll have to give them a good scrub in hot water.
Use a zester to take off the coloured outer zest. You’ll need to zest about half each lemon, so don’t worry about getting every last little bit off. Do it over a large bowl so that all the zest goes in and you don’t have to start scraping it off other things!
If you haven’t got a zester (great little kitchen gadget – well worth buying one!) then use a potato peeler and remove any white pith from the strips (more fiddly but the pith is bitter so you don’t want to have it in your real lemonade). Or use a grater very gently to avoid grating white pith.
Squeeze the 6 lemons and add all the juice and bits to the bowl with the zest. Add the sugar. Boil one and a half litres of water and pour the boiling water into the bowl too. Stir, cover and leave your real lemonade for several hours (overnight) in a cool place.
Then, before your picnic the following day, strain the mixture through a course sieve and pour into clean bottles, which have been rinsed in boiling water to sterilise them. I use empty mineral water bottles with screw tops. If you use corks, then these should be sterilised too.
You should taste the mixture and dilute if necessary with water – or ice cubes – or soda water if you want it fizzy.
Then leave in the fridge to get really cold and carry in cool boxes. Pour over ice, if possible, for a really refreshing drink.
For a quicker and more grown-up version of real lemonade (does that make it unreal now?!), but just as refreshing, try this:
Blend 200 ml lemon juice with 400 ml water, 400 grams of blueberries and 100 grams of sugar. Strain into a picnic flask or jug, half filled with ice. This is good a good mix for vodka if you want to make it alcoholic.
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