Lemonade Syrup

My daughters love to make this syrup, they collect any ripe lemons in the nieghbourhood. Its fun to squeeze them, we preserve it and bottle it up especially to make a lemonade stand and sell it  to any passing neighbours!!

Ingredients

​6 lemons
1.5kg organic raw sugar (or 1kg sugar mixed with 350g honey)
50g citric acid
3 litres water
5 x 1-litre preserving jars with metal lids (or rubber seals and screw bands)

Method

Step 1
Preheat oven to 100⁰C. 
Use a peeler to peel two strips of zest from a lemon. Place zest in a large (5-litre) saucepan. Squeeze juice from lemons (you need about 400ml) and pour into saucepan. 

Step 2 
Add sugar, citric acid and water, heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer then take off heat

Step 3 
Stand clean jars in a roasting pan in oven for 15 minutes until hot. Put metal lids in a small pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer on low heat while you bottle syrup. (For rubber seals, just pour boiling water over them.)

Step 4 
Carefully ladle hot syrup into jars. Use tongs to place lids(or seals) on jars. If the rim is sticky, dip a clean cloth in boiling water and quickly wipe before adding lid.

Step 5 
When jars have cooled slightly, tighten lids (or add bands). As jars cool more, they will go ‘pop’ which means they have sealed.

Step 6 
To serve, dilute one part syrup to two parts water. Keep opened bottles in the fridge.​


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Hands-on Time: 15 minutes |  Cooking time: 15 minutes  
​Makes : 5 litres syrup 
Credit: Nadia Magazine. 
Photography & Styling: Vanessa Lewis​​

Tip: Unopened bottles will keep for several months in the fridge, or a cool dark place.
Lemon and lime juice is often used to bring 'flavour out' in certain foods, a natural power house or flavour enhancer.