“We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavoring and furniture polish is made from real lemons.”    Alfred E. Newman

Lavender Infused Honey Lemonade

Friday morning, July 20, 2012 at exactly 7:00 a.m. MDT, my first guest post goes public on Amy Green’s site Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free. Click through to her site to read my post on Lavender and Lavender Infused Honey Lemonade made with real lemons. Then take a moment to check out all that Amy offers on her site.

Amy Green
Amy has an amazing story to tell of her own journey. She went from overweight and out of control eating to becoming sugar and gluten-free—and fit and comfortable in her body. Having had my own struggles with sugar as a pastry chef for many years, I can relate. I wrote about my journey in my 1992 cookbook Fruit-Sweet & Sugar-Free.

Amy read my book and wrote a very positive review. I fortunately came across her review on the internet and am grateful my book has been so helpful to her. Fruit-Sweet & Sugar-Free is filled with tips, techniques and recipes for desserts and baked goods made with liquid sweeteners and without refined white sugar. All the recipes were developed during the years I worked at The Ranch Kitchen Restaurant in Southwest Montana just north of Yellowstone Park.

Honey Lemonade
Following are recipes for making your own Honey Lemonade with freshly squeezed lemons. A lavender infusion turns Honey Lemonade a beautiful rosy pink. Both beverages provide cool pleasure during these hot and sunny days of summer.

Freshly Squeezed Honey Lemonade

Makes 7 ½ cups

½ cup mild honey
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup hot water
4 ½ cups cold water
1 cup ice cubes

1. Place the honey in a 4-cup measuring cup.
2. Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice and hot water to the honey.
3. Use a small whisk to stir this mixture until the honey dissolves.
4. Pour this mixture into a pitcher.
5. Stir in the cold water.
6. Add the ice cubes.
7. Stir the mixture altogether.
8. Taste and add a bit more water or honey, if necessary, so you have the just-right mix of sweet and tart.
9. Pour into individual glasses and enjoy!

Click on Honey Lemonade for a printable version of this recipe without images

Freshly Squeezed Honey Lemonade Infused with Lavender
Making Lavender Lemonade is magic! When the reddish-brown lavender infusion mixes with the lemon juice the entire mixture turns a most beautiful rosy pink.
Be sure to prepare your lemonade with food-grade lavender rather than with lavender marketed for sachets or potpourri.

Makes 7½ cups

Zest of two lemons (organic if possible)
½ cup dried lavender blossoms
½ cup mild honey, agave or other sweetener of choice
2 cups water
1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 4-5 lemons)

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the flavorful zest (the yellow portion of the skin) from 2 lemons.

Place the zest, lavender blossoms, honey or sweetener of choice and the 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat so the mixture gently simmers for 10 minutes. Cover the pan and turn off the heat. Steep this lavender infusion for at least 30 and up to 90 minutes. The longer the infusion steeps, the more intense the lavender flavor of your lemonade.

Meanwhile, juice the lemons and place the juice in a pitcher along with 4 1/ 2 cups of water.

 

 

 

Strain the infusion through a fine sieve into a container with a pour spout, pressing on the lavender and the lemon zest to extract as much liquid as possible.

Now is when the magic happens: begin to pour the strained reddish-brown infusion into the pitcher.

As you add more of the lavender infusion, the rosier the lemonade becomes.

 

The final color is a beautiful rosy pink!

Taste and add more water if you would like so that the taste is just right for you.

Either chill the lemonade with ice or in the fridge. Serve garnished with fresh stalks of lavender and/or thin slices of lemon.

Click Honey Lemonade Infused with Lavender for a printable version of this recipe without images