What says summer better than strawberry lemonade? It makes the perfect drink on a sweltering day. I’ve been trying to get a strawberry bed established. We put in one last year, and while I have gotten some berries this year, they haven’t produced enough to make this, so I’ll admit I used store-bought strawberries for this batch of concentrate. Maybe next year I’ll have enough to actually make something with them.

This recipe is from Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving. To reconstitute, the instructions say to mix one part concentrate with one part water, tonic water, or ginger ale and adjust concentrate to taste. While this is good, I personally thought the concentrate was a bit too sweet. I like more tart lemon in my lemonade. I think I need to add a bit more lemon when I open up a jar. I’m not sure if cutting back on the amount of sugar would keep the recipe safe, so I’ll make adjustments after I open up a pint. I’ve had it mixed with an equal amount of water, and I’ve also used it as a base for a strawberry margarita, which was pretty darn good!

The recipe calls for freshly squeezed lemon juice. That’s fine if you feel like squeezing a ton of lemons, but I used bottled lemon juice. You can always substitute bottled lemon juice for fresh (just not the other way around), and using bottled lemon juice is a huge time saver.

I did skim off all the foam I saw before I canned, but as you can tell from the picture, I didn’t get it all. It doesn’t affect the taste or the safety whatsoever. It just doesn’t look as pretty. 🙂

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

6 cups hulled strawberries

4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 cups sugar

Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

In a blender or a food processor fitted with a metal blade, working in batches, puree strawberries until smooth. Transfer to a large stainless steel sauce pan as completed. Add lemon juice and sugar and stir to combine.  Heat to 190 degrees Fahrenheit over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Do not boil. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

Ladle hot concentrate into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw on band until fingertip tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process jars for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes before removing jars. Cool and store.

Yield: About 7 pints

Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.