There is nothing I love more than plump local strawberries, bursting with sweet juices, and ruby red all the way through.
I go a little crazy with them every year.
My favourite thing that emerged from last June’s berry bounty was this Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream. Incredible.
This year I found myself with a bit less time on my hands, so I froze the entire 8-lb stash I bought on a whim. But I’ve still been buying more, a more reasonable pint at a time, each time I visit the farmers market.
Mostly, they’ve just been for snacking. But nothing quite says summer like a glass of ice cold, sweet-tart, irresistibly pink strawberry lemonade.
The typical lemonade proportions vary between equal parts sugar and lemon juice (soda sweet) to 1 part sugar to 1 1/2 parts lemon juice (on the tarter side). My recipe is 1 part sugar to 2 parts lemon juice (ever tarter), but I find the intense sweetness of in-season strawberries takes the edge off.
I made the recipe as a single serving, like a cocktail, because I usually just want one glass – and maybe a second to share with a friend. And who wants to juice a bazillion lemons? But I scaled it up so that you can make a pitcher if you’re so inclined.
I actually drink it with even less sugar, because I really like to pucker. But Adarsh made an I-just-sucked-a-lemon face when he tasted it. So go with the recipe as written, unless you’re like me – in which case you can try it with 1 tbsp per glass.
If you do make a whole pitcher, you can adjust the tartness – if you find it’s not sweet enough for you, you can add sweetness by making a simple syrup: bring a cup of water to a boil with a cup of sugar, stirring until dissolved, then cool and add to your lemonade to taste. Reserve any leftover syrup to sweeten iced tea/coffee/summer cocktails. Too sweet? Juice another lemon.
Too sober? Add vodka.
Strawberry Lemonade
Ingredients
- 3 medium strawberries halved
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar or more, for sweeter lemonade
- 1 lemon juiced (yields about 1/4 cup juice)
- ¾ cup cold water
Instructions
- Place the strawberries and sugar in the bottom of a serving glass and muddle well, until the berries are almost a purée (you need to be able to suck them up a straw!) and the sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon juice and water and stir well. Serve over ice cubes (or frozen whole strawberries) to keep it chilled, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
