Tigress Can Jam: Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate
Oh strawberries. You are so sweet, so delicious so perfect when ripe and in season. I went down to Asheville, NC last month and picked up a gallon bucket of dead ripe strawberries for $12. These berries were tastier than anything you get from the grocery store, hands down. I made strawberry balsamic jam and this juice concentrate, as well as eating straight and making strawberry infused vinegar. I didn't take a lot of pictures to make this, so we're just going to go straight into the recipe.
But first, wash your strawberries! Strawberries hold pesticides and dirt and junk much more than other fruits. And while you're at it, sign the petition to urge the USDA to reverse its decision to approve methyl iodide.
So, to make this, you take about 6 cups of hulled strawberries and puree it. Pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Next, squeeze 4 cups of lemon juice. This'll take a lot of lemons and probably 45 minutes, unless you have a juicer. I got 3 bags of lemons from Whole Foods and went through two and a half. If you have a need for lemon zest, this'll be a good time to make that recipe! I strained this again before combining with strawberry puree to catch errant seeds. Combine strawberry puree, lemon juice and 6 cups sugar in a non-reactive pot. Heat over medium high heat, skimming off phone until it reaches 190 degrees. Do not boil!
Fill 5 pint jars, leaving 1/4" of headspace. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
To reconstitute, mix with 2 parts water or seltzer.
The Verdict: So, despite the 6 cups of sugar this recipe calls for, this makes a tart lemonade. But it's delightful and refreshing. This also made 2 pints less than the 7 pints that the Ball book said it would make - either I had too little strawberry puree than they expected or... I don't know. I frequently find that I make more or less than the recipe calls for so who knows. The Ball book also recommends doing a 1:1 reconstitution w/ water, seltzer or Sprite/7 Up/Sierra Mist, however when I made this, I found that 1:1 with water was cloyingly sweet. 2:1 works better. I was all set to skip the fresh squeezed lemonade and use bottled, but apparently lemonade made with bottled lemon juice tastes awful? I don't know, my parents never loved me and made lemonade from concentrate. In other news, I have 6 bottles of lemon juice in my fridge - anyone need some? There's also a lot of foam to skim off of this one. Worth paying attention to.
Verdict Update: We're moving right now and in the midst of our packing, I made a pitcher of strawberry lemonade for our helpers. 4 cans water to 1 can concentrate and I was still diluting it down when I drink it. Maybe different with vodka (this was a booze free crew), but yeah. Definitely not 1:1.
I also found that this is absolutely divine with vodka, so it makes a delightful adult addition to bring to summer BBQ.