PJ posted an amazing jar and I was loving the color before I even asked what recipe she had made. The bright color reminded me of Miranda's Cinnamon Red Hot Appples. When she told me it was the Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving I was very excited. I had passed by all the recipes for "concentrates" thinking they would be sweet and probably not very popular in my house, but after asking a few questions of my family I decided to add it to my list.
I looked at the recipe last night and found it very simple to put together. The mixture of the concentrate was a good ratio and the book used soda water or ginger ale as the mixer. I will have to figure out which works for us but I am hoping that good ole fashion water will taste just as good. Now for a great gift idea for the holiday or a hostess gift for a summer bash you could give a jar of the Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate and a bottle of vodka, tequila, or light rum.
From PJ: "I used 1 pint of concentrate to 3-4 pints of water and it was great."
Thanks PJ for sharing your picture!
Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate
Makes 6-8 pints or 3 quarts
of canned concentrate
6 cups
strawberries, cleaned and hulled
4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 cups sugar
4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 cups sugar
In a food
processor, blender or bullet puree strawberries in batches.
Transfer
strawberry puree to a stainless steel saucepan over medium-high heat. DO NOT
BOIL. Add lemon juice and sugar and stir to combine.
Using a thermometer heat to 190 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring occasionally. Because this recipe has sugar it will get to temperature rather quickly so keep your eye on the thermometer. Remove from heat.
Using a thermometer heat to 190 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring occasionally. Because this recipe has sugar it will get to temperature rather quickly so keep your eye on the thermometer. Remove from heat.
Ladle mixture
into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim, add hot lids and tighten rings
just finger tight. Process in water bath canner at a boil for 15 minutes.
To reconstitute,
mix one part concentrate with one part water, tonic water or ginger ale. Adjust
concentrate to suit your taste.
You can use bottled lemon juice for this recipe as well!!!
**If you do not want to process this concentrate in canning jars, freeze the concentrate in 1 to 2 cup portions.
You can use bottled lemon juice for this recipe as well!!!
**If you do not want to process this concentrate in canning jars, freeze the concentrate in 1 to 2 cup portions.
21 comments:
This works well for so many things. You can also add it to ice cream for a milkshake.
We have a cherry tree (sweet cherries, not sour) Do you think I could sub the strawberries for cherries? The lemons should provide enough acid, right?
ellie - Wow what an interesting idea. The lemons should provide enough acid with any fruit. I wouldn't do this with lemons alone but if you do make it let me know how it turns out!!!
Any suggestions on a sugar substitute?
Living in Ohio, there are no lemon trees around. Do you think bottled lemon juice would be ok?
Cindy has a link on here about sugar substitutes. I don't like using a lot of sugar myself due to the high glycemic effect. I'm personally going to use Agave Syrup at 4.5 cups (you don't need as much!). Just a thought.
Has anyone used the bottled lemon juice? After hand squeezing five lemons (don't have a juicer) and only getting one cup of juice, I am thinking a bottle of lemon juice may have to work for me ... ??
Do we have a take on the bottled lemon juice yet? I loved the strawberry lemonade and would like to try this as well.
A friend of mine gave me this lemon squeezing tip. It works really well:
1. Purchase the ripest lemons you can find.
2. When ready to squeeze the lemons, first microwave several pounds of lemons for 1 1/2 minutes.
3. Roll each lemon out firmly (as if you were rolling a rolling pin without handles).
4. Squeeze! You should be able to get more juice out of each lemon this way.
Note: I purchased 12 large lemons and got exactly 4 cups of lemon juice.
I made a batch with 3 cups fresh squeezed lemons and 1 cup lemon juice concentrate. I wasn't pleased with the results. It tasted artificial to me. Hope this helps!
Since I have many ramifications about aspertame while pregnant, I guess what you mentioned up there is the best substitute I can get for the meantime.
Stew I'm not sure if you want a low sugar substitute but I would use Stevia. The Lemon juice will be plenty to preserve this recipe and make it shelf stable.
What do you think it would taste like if I put whole lemons through the juicer? Do you think it would be too bitter tasting?
Probably too bitter bcw!
YOu could put the zest of a couple lemons in. That is what I do to the regular lemonade I make. I think it gives it a good lemon flavor!
So this is 6 cups of strawberries before they are pureed? Does anyone know how many cups it is pureed?
Thanks!
I mashed mine and then measured. Not pureed.
If I wanted a clearer juice, at what point would I strain through cheesecloth or some such?
Do you need to add the sugar before canning it? I would prefer no sugar or low sugar.
Hi, I have a quick question about your recipe. You say 6 cups of strawberries. Is that 6 cups of strawberry puree, or how did you measure it with the strawberries being kind of hard to measure.
how long is the shelf life on the strawberry lemonade
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