Raspberry Lemonade Recipe
This raspberry lemonade is the perfect thirst quencher for the lingering, hot days of summer.
Now that I live in the south, I have a full appreciation for the ritual of sipping a cold drink on a porch on a hot day. There’s really something to be said for it no matter where you live. But front porches are aplenty here in the south and I couldn’t be happier about it. I love front porch sittin’!
I had some raspberries that needed to be eaten and a raspberry lemonade sounded so good for these hot, humid days. So I set to work and the result was pretty darn tasty!
HOW TO MAKE LEMONADE WITH LEMON JUICE
I have to admit, I was a little surprised when I saw that this is a question many people ask on google. It begs the question… how would you make lemonade WITHOUT lemon juice? I’m totally baffled. But lemonade mysteries aside, a good, fresh-squeezed lemon juice is definitely appropriate here. If you must use bottled lemon juice, it will work too. But the flavor of fresh squeezed is always better.
LEMONADE RECIPE WITH HONEY
I love using honey in my lemonade recipes. The honey has an extra kick that will put any homemade lemonade over the top. No matter what lemonade recipe you are making, you can always substitute honey for any other type of sugar. If you need help converting from a dry sweetener to a liquid like honey, here’s a substitution chart to make it easy for you. Just keep in mind that with a recipe like this one, it’s always best to sweeten to your own tastes. Start off with a little less than called for, and add more as needed. You can always add more, but you can’t take any out once it’s been added. So add slowly and to taste!
HOW TO MAKE LEMONADE WITHOUT SUGAR
Many folks are wising up to the amount of sugar they consume these days. It’s a smart and healthy thing to reduce in your every day life. That being said, you don’t have to avoid it completely. There is room in a healthy and balanced eating plan for a little something sweet from time to time. But if you really want to make lemonade without sugar, you can use stevia in place of any sweetener. I honestly recommend doing what I did, and simply reduce the amount of honey and then use stevia to balance it out. Stevia tends to enhance the sweetness of things more than actually create sweetness. So it’s best to have a small amount of sweetener in there that the stevia can enhance. Even if it’s a tablespoon or two of a different sweetener. Maple syrup will work here too as will coconut sugar or Sucanat.
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HOMEMADE LEMONADE RECIPES
RASPBERRY LEMONADE RECIPE:
Equipment
- Fine-meshed sieve
Ingredients
- 12 oz. fresh raspberries
- 7 cups water
- 1 cup lemon juice
- ½ cup honey (or any unprocessed sweetener you prefer – I used a ¼ cup honey and some stevia)
Instructions
- Combine the raspberries with 1 cup of the water (the rest of the water will create your lemonade in a few steps).
- Mash the berries with a potato masher or fork.
- Bring them to a boil and then immediately reduce to a simmer. Cook until everything has cooked down by about half.
- Allow them to cool for a bit and then transfer to a fine-meshed sieve over a bowl.
- Use a large spoon or other slightly curved surface to mash the raspberries through the sieve. This will remove your seeds and pulp.
- You will be left with a bowl of raspberry juice that has a small amount of fiber in it (usually scraped from the bottom of the sieve when you're done mashing).
- Combine this in a pitcher with the remaining 6 cups of water and all other ingredients. Adjust sweetener to taste and serve over ice for a nice chilled glass of fresh, homemade lemonade.
