LAZY SUNDAY: LEMONADE

18 MAY 2014

As Sundays go, this one couldn't have been much lazier. After a Saturday filled with jogging, drives to Rugby, afternoon shopping and cooking delicious meals, I think I needed a day where I could just enjoy the company of beautiful family whilst soaking up the 20 degree heat, magazine in hand.

Yes, we're having another 3 day heatwave. These are the only occasions during the British summer that my shorts make it out of the wardrobe and I bare my lily whites in the hope that they will one day absorb enough sunshine to reach a shade somewhere near brown. Alas, the hours of sun worship are always in vain - let's face it, I will never have that mediterranean bronzed glow that I so crave!

I can, however, still enjoy the sunshine while it lasts, and what better way to do that than with an ice-cold glass of homemade lemonade to quench my thirst?

This recipe is super easy, and the perfect balance of sweet and sour. What's even better is that it's perfect for sharing and easy to scale up if you've got a lot of guests!

INGREDIENTS: (makes 1.25 - 1.5l)

for ORIGINAL lemonade...
1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (5 lemons should do it)
1 cup unrefined golden caster sugar
4 - 5 cups water

for PINK lemonade...
as above +
a handful of raspberries
1 tbsp water
2 tsp unrefined golden caster sugar

METHOD:

Using a lemon squeezer, squeeze the juice from the lemons and put in a pitcher or pouring jug. Add the sugar and one cup of water to a saucepan, heating gently and stirring until all of the sugar has dissolved. This is your sugar syrup.

Add the sugar syrup to the lemon juice and dilute with 3 - 4 cups of cold water. I find that 3 and a half cups is perfect, but you can add more or less to suit your preferred strength. Chill and serve over ice.

If you fancy a little extra flavour (or just like the pretty colour) you can add a little raspberry puree to your lemonade to make it pink!

To make the puree, crush a handful of raspberries in a bowl with the back of a spoon. Make a small amount of sugar syrup with 1 tbsp of water and 2 tsp of golden caster sugar, heating the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Add this to the crushed raspberries and then push through a sieve to remove all the seeds.

Add a drop of this puree to your lemonade, et voila! Enjoy the heatwave folks!