Pink Lemonade…  So refreshing and perfect for summertime.  This month, my focus was on all of the wonderful things we can do with lemons – and we’re starting off with this delicious recipe for pink lemonade.  First, because it’s awesome – I love to mix up a pitcher, add just a touch of vodka, and have a “grown-up” afternoon by the pool.  Second, I use the ingredients from this pink lemonade recipe to create a pink lemonade cake next week!

I’ve made a pink lemonade cake in the past, and I wasn’t in love with it – first of all, one of the ingredients was frozen pink lemonade concentrate – Now, I just don’t understand the point of a scratch cake when you’re adding something like frozen concentrate or (and I know it makes me a baking snob) Jello.  This sent me on a quest to find out exactly what makes pink lemonade pink, anyway?

There are two schools of thought here – either strawberries or raspberries.  After doing a little research, the addition of raspberries seemed like the most authentic, and I knew they’d pair wonderfully with the lemon juice to make a pitcher full of pink lemony goodness!

This recipe makes a ton of raspberry simple syrup, which keeps quite nicely in an air tight container in the fridge.  This is a good thing, since we’ll need about 1/2 cup next week!

As a bonus this week, we’re also making candied lemon peels – you can make candied peels of nearly any citrus fruit and they’re great for garnishes and also for eating by themselves – I’ve made them for the Christmas holidays in the past, and they were a big hit!

This video contains the tutorial for the Raspberry Simple Syrup and also the Candied Lemon Peels – They were easy to make in the same tutorial so the same video will be posted on both recipes!

Print Recipe

Pink Lemonade

Servings

Ingredients

Raspberry Simple Syrup

• 6 oz Raspberries One little container
• 2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 2/3 cup Water

Lemonade

• 6 cups Cold Water
• 1 cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice About 7 medium lemons
• 1 cup Raspberry Simple Syrup
• Ice

Servings Ingredients Raspberry Simple Syrup 6 oz Raspberries One little container 2 cup Granulated Sugar 2/3 cup Water Lemonade 6 cups Cold Water 1 cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice About 7 medium lemons 1 cup Raspberry Simple Syrup Ice

Instructions

Raspberry Simple Syrup

1. Put the Raspberries, Sugar and Water in a saucepan and heat on medium-high.
2. Heat to a boil, stirring occasionally.
3. Simmer 10-12 minutes - the raspberries should just be falling apart.
4. Pour the raspberry mixture through a fine strainer into a heat-proof bowl. Set aside to cool a bit.
5. Once cool, place in an air tight container in the fridge to cool completely before making Lemonade (about 30 minutes to an hour)

Pink Lemonade

1. Put one cup of raspberry simple syrup in a pitcher.
2. Add the lemon juice.
3. Add the water and fill with ice.
4. Stir gently and serve.

Recipe Notes

I usually add about 3 jiggers of vodka to this recipe to make the adult version - Also, you can garnish with fresh raspberries or the candied lemon peels mentioned earlier!