My good friend A is pregnant with TWIN girls. On Sunday, a bunch of us hosted a baby shower and one of the food items I was asked to bring was lemonade. What more could be more fitting for sweet baby girls then pink lemonade?
We are actually big pink lemonade drinkers in our house. I first became addicted to pink lemonade the summer I was pregnant with Little Tot. I remember from the moment I became pregnant, no matter how much water I drank I was always in a state of parched.
Pink lemonade was the only thing that seemed to satiate my constant thirst.
I would love to be all Suzy Homemaker and pretend that the only lemonade we drink in our house is freshly squeezed. That would be a big ol’ lie. We drink almost a jug a day. There is no way I’m standing over a juicer every night to squeeze two pounds of lemons. It’s powdered drink mix for us.
But for a special occasion – like two little pink bundles of joy – I can spring for freshly squeezed. It’s actually pretty easy to make and you can adjust the measurements to make it as sweet or as tart as you like.
This recipe was featured in the April / May 2013 issue of eat.drink.MISSISSIPPI.
Homemade Pink Lemonade
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 lemon peel segments
- 5-1/2 cups water divided
- 2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice about 10-12 lemons
- 1/4 cup cranberry juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
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In a small saucepan, combine sugar, lemon peel segments, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Simmer until sugar is dissolved, then remove from heat.
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In a large pitcher, combine remaining water, lemon juice, cranberry juice, and salt.
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Remove lemon peel segments from the simple syrup. Add to lemonade. Stir to combine.
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Pour lemonade through a fine mesh sieve to remove any pulp, if desired.
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Serve chilled.
What a pretty color! I could do with a glass of your lemonade right now.
Looks lovely. I just bought all the ingredients and after reading the recipe I got one question; what is a peel segment? is it all of the peel from 1 lemon?
Thanks
/Johan
It is the lemon peel, but not from the entire lemon. I used a vegetable peeler and peeled just a few thin slices. You just want the top-most layer. The white part of the peel is bitter and could give your drink a weird taste.
You comment just reminded me I actually took a picture of the lemon peel segments so people would know what I was talking about, but I forgot to include it in the post! I have just added it, so that may clear up the confusion.
What kind of cranberry juice would you use? Sweetened/Imitation like Juicee Juice/ocean spray or real unsweetened juice?
Heather, I typically use the juice from concentrate that comes in a can. But Juicy Juice or Ocean Spray would also work, you just might need to the recipe for the added sweetness.
hey i think i am going to make this for a school project and i want to know how much this recipe makes? we have around 30 in the class room and i need to know how many litres one recipe makes? thanks!
Ashleigh, this recipe makes just a little less that 2 liters, about 7 3/4 cups.
Thanks so much this recipe was a BIG HIT!!! I had to print everyone off their own copy because they LOVED IT!!
Oh my goodness! This is a very pretty drink!
Nice. I like how you used a natural ingredient – Cranberry juice, to color the lemonade pink. This post made me thirsty for lemonade.
great recipe! How long can I keep it ?
Thanks for this Pink Lemonade recipe….but not sure how much of the lemon peel segments….are you saying about 4 slices ?
Like what is shown in the picture of the pan above. You just want a piece of the peeling, not an entire slice. You can use a vegetable peeler to do this.
how much does it make?
About 2 quarts
How much lemonade would you typically add? It’s such a pretty colour…
Hi, how long in advance can you make this lemonade?
Am I reading this correctly? Only 1/4 cup of sugar? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Vickie, the recipe actually calls for 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of cranberry juice. If the lemonade if too tart for your taste, you can add more sugar.
Can i use tropicana or real cranberry juice ? N pla tel me wat kind of cranberry juice u use ?
You can use any kind of cranberry juice you want.