Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate.

I bought a book this year.  Well, first I took it out of the library, skimmed through it, and almost immediately went to amazon and bought it.  It arrived almost two weeks before the library book was due back.  It is:

Many of the recipes intrigued me, so I needed to try them out, and since my time copying recipes is worth more than the $15 the book cost, I figured it was a worthwhile investment.

One of the intriguing recipes was the Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate (to note, all the recipes in this book are canned, therefore shelf stable).  I don't have a lot of freezer space (and rapidly decreasing pantry space), I liked the idea of having a juice concentrate that would be happy living on the shelf.  Not to mention, there is nothing better than fresh-picked strawberries, and any way to enjoy that flavour during the year is fine by me!

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

6 cups finely pureed strawberries

6 cups sugar

4 cups lemon juice

Prepare jars by running them through a dishwasher with a heated dry, place seals in warm water to soften.

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and cook over medium-high heat until a thermometer reaches 88ºC (190ºF).  DO NOT BOIL.  Once temperature is reached, remove from heat, let stand for a minute, and skim off any foam.  Ladle into warm jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Seal jars and process in a hot-water canner for 15 minutes.  Yield 6-500ml (pint) jars.

Now, the recipe says that to use, mix 1:1 with water, lemon-lime soda, soda water, etc.  I did mine with water and found it very sweet, so try it out and figure out your own ratio.  I did at least 2 parts water/1 part concentrate and it's still pretty sweet.  (but yummy).