1 to 1.5cupsfresh or frozen strawberriesif fresh, remove stems
2cupswater
1.5cupssugar
For the lemonade:
Fruit simple syrup
1cuplemon juice
3 to 4cupswater
Iceat least 2 cups
Sliced lemon or additional strawberries for servingoptional
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, heat the 2 cups of water, 1 cup of fresh or frozen strawberries, and 1 cup of sugar for the simple syrup over medium-high heat, until the sugar is dissolved. Stir it often.
Bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat to let it simmer for 3 to 6 minutes, until the fruit is soft.
Remove the pan from the heat. Use a potato masher to crush the fruit. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, while the fruit steeps in the hot water.
Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium-sized bowl (a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup works well for this), and pour the hot fruit simple syrup through the strainer. Use the back of a spoon to press the fruit against the strainer to remove all of the extra juice. Discard the pulp or seeds (or feed it to your chickens!).
Place the fruit simple syrup in a heat-resistant container (a mason jar with a lid works well for this), and then let it chill in the fridge.
In a large pitcher, add the simple syrup, lemon juice, and 3 to 4 cups of water. Stir to combine well. Serve over ice, and garnish with sliced lemon and/or additional fruit.
Video
Notes
To speed up the process, you can replace the water called for in the lemonade part of the recipe with ice to cool your simple syrup faster. Just be sure you don't dilute it too much and get watery lemonade.
I don’t recommend bottled lemon juice for this recipe, unless you can find that fancy volcanic lemon juice from Italy (sold at Costco). Here’s what it looks like on Amazon, but it’s silly expensive there. Other options would be high-quality lemon juices that aren’t from concentrate.
Make a double batch and use some to make popsicles.
The fruit simple syrup recipe is a great base for using other berries to make lots of flavors of simple syrup and then make all kinds of lemonades.