Fresh Raspberry Lemonade

Bottoms up! A sweet way to cool down from the summer heat is with a refreshing tall glass of? For me, it's lemonade. The sweet and tart flavor that shines through just gets me every time. But nowadays, you'll find lemonade taking on some flavor. A combination I really like is raspberry and lemon. I've always seen raspberry lemonade on the drink menu when dining out, but it ends up being a prepared mix rather than one freshly made. Since it is summertime afterall and raspberries are popping up in the stores and farmers markets, I opted to make this Fresh Raspberry Lemonade from scratch. Sweet, tart, and thoroughly refreshing, this is one drink that will make those hot summer days even better...

This recipe is an adaptation from Dawn of Simple Gourmet Cooking. I participated in a recipe swap with a group of girlfriends and when I got Dawn's blog, it wasn't hard to find something to make! I haven't featured many drinks on my site so this one was perfect for the season. Something I really liked learning is making a lemon simple syrup for this lemonade recipe. Usually I stir lemon juice with water, but by boiling the lemon juice and sugar together to create a syrup, the lemon flavor is even more concentrated and sweetened at the same time. Thanks for the wonderful tips and recipe Dawn!

Fresh Raspberry Lemonade
recipe adapted from Simple Gourmet Cooking

5-8 large lemons (yielding 1 1/2 cups lemon juice)
Water
2 cups of granulated sugar
1 cup fresh raspberries

Juice the lemons (perhaps more) to yield 1 1/2 cups lemon juice. Reserve the rinds and place in a large serving pitcher with 5 cups of water. Place 1 cup of the lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium high heat and add sugar. Allow the lemon juice to come to a boil and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. This is the lemon simple syrup which will sweeten the lemonade.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup lemon juice with the raspberries in a food processor or blender. Process until well blended. Transfer mixture to the large serving pitcher by straining the liquid through a fine mesh sieve. Add the cooled lemon simple syrup to sweeten, adding more water to your tastes. 

Serve chilled over ice on that perfect summer day! Makes about 2 quarts