Servings: 6pints of concentrate // 2 1/2 quarts of lemonade (once mixed)
Author: Kresha Faber
Ingredients
For the concentrate
8cupswater
1 ½ - 2cupshoney or unrefined cane sugar
12lemons
To mix the lemonade
per 1 pint lemonade concentrate
use 1 1/4 cup of water
Instructions
To Prepare the Concentrate
First, scrub the lemons, then peel them using a vegetable peeler so as to get as little pith as possible attached to the peels. Place the peels in a large bowl (you can use only half, if desired).
Place the water and honey in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring just to a boil, then pour the hot mixture over the peels and let sit until cooled, 30-45 minutes.
Meanwhile, juice the lemons and pour the juice through a sieve to remove any seeds or large pieces of pulp. Place juice in a large bowl or jar that's easy to pour from. Set aside, then prepare freezer containers for the concentrate.
A Note About Containers: I find leftover pint-sized sour cream containers or pint-sized Weck jars work very well for this purpose, but you can use anything that's freezer-safe and pint-sized. I prefer not to use Mason jars in the freezer, merely because of the curved top you have to thaw them completely before using them. With straight-sided Weck jars, you just have to loosen them before plopping them in your pitcher to mix. That said, mason jars are a great option if you want to can them in a water bath!)
When the honey mixture is cool, remove the peels. Pour the sweetened liquid over the lemon juice and stir well.
Pour into prepared containers and freeze until solid.
(If using glass, BE SURE to leave at least an inch at the top to allow for expansion. Otherwise, you'll likely be dealing with broken glass in your freezer... )
To Mix the Lemonade
To prepare lemonade using homemade lemonade concentrate, stir together 1 pint of concentrate and 1 1/4 water (use more or less as desired).
Stir in raspberries, rosemary, mango, or other add-ins as desired.