Cherry Lemonade Concentrate
Cherry lemonade concentrate puts the flavor of summer cherries into a jar you can keep on the pantry shelf all year. You cook the cherries down to juice, with no pitting required, then combine that juice with lemon and sugar and process it in a water bath canner. When you want a glass of fresh cherry lemonade, just mix one part concentrate with three parts cold water.
Servings: 40 servings, makes 5 to 6 pints
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
Ingredients
To Extract the Cherry Juice
- 3 lbs tart cherries or slightly more sweet cherries, see notes
- 1/2 cup water
For the Concentrate
- 4 cups cherry juice extracted from the cherries above
- 4 cups lemon juice fresh or bottled
- 6 cups granulated sugar
Instructions
Juice the Cherries
- Rinse the cherries and pick through them, discarding any with soft or moldy spots. There's no need to pit them, since the pits and skins get strained out with the juice.
- Stovetop method: Place the cherries in a saucepan with the water and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often at first, until the juices begin to burst from the fruit. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the cherries have collapsed and released their juice, about 10 minutes.
- Steam juicer method (optional): Load the cherries into the basket, add water to the lower pan, and steam for 45 minutes to an hour, until the juice runs freely. You can skip the added water with this method.
- Pour the cooked cherries into a jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth set over a deep bowl, and let the juice drip through. Avoid squeezing the bag if you want a clear concentrate. Discard the pits, skins, and pulp.
Make and Can the Concentrate
- Prepare a water bath canner, jars, lids, and rings before you begin. Keep the jars hot until you're ready to fill them.
- Juice the lemons and strain the juice well to remove the seeds and pulp.
- Combine the cherry juice, strained lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Heat the mixture gently, stirring often, until it reaches 190°F. Do not let it boil.
- Ladle the hot concentrate into the prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, center the lids, and screw on the bands until fingertip tight.
- Process in the water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude (see notes).
- Turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes, then move them to a towel and cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. Check the seals, refrigerate any that didn't seal, and store sealed jars in the pantry.
To serve, mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts cold water.
Notes
Yield: When I make this recipe it yields about 5 pints, though it varies a little with how juicy your cherries are and how much juice you manage to extract. Both the cherry juice and the lemon juice are safe to can on their own, so the ratio is not fixed for safety. Lean toward more cherry or more lemon to suit your taste, and raise or lower the sugar however you like, since the sugar is here for flavor rather than preservation.
Cherries: This recipe is built around tart (sour) cherries, which have the most cherry flavor, but sweet, black, or Rainier cherries all work. About 3 pounds of tart cherries, or 4 pounds of sweet, gives you roughly 4 cups of juice. If your cherries run short of 4 cups, you can top up the difference with apple or cranberry juice, the same way you would for cherry jelly.
Lemon Juice: Fresh or bottled lemon juice both work. Fresh juice, strained well, gives the fullest flavor, while bottled is convenient and has a steady acidity. Either way, use plain lemon juice with nothing else added.
Straining: The cherries go in as extracted juice, so the straining happens when you juice them rather than at the end. Pour the cooked cherries through a jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth to catch the pits, skins, and pulp. If you want an even clearer concentrate you can strain the juice a second time through a finer cloth, though that lowers the yield a little.
Reconstituting: One pint of concentrate makes a half gallon of cherry lemonade. Mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts cold water, or pour a pint into a half gallon mason jar and fill the rest with water, then serve over ice. Mix it stronger or weaker to taste, or stir it into sparkling water for a fizzy version.
Storage: Sealed, processed jars keep on the pantry shelf for up to a year. If you are not canning, the concentrate keeps in the refrigerator for a few weeks or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Leave 1 inch of headspace if you are freezing so it has room to expand, and refrigerate after opening.
Altitude Adjustments: Process half pints, pints, and quarts for 15 minutes below 1,000 feet. Between 1,000 and 6,000 feet, process for 20 minutes, and above 6,000 feet, process for 25 minutes. This follows the NCHFP fruit puree times, which are the same across all three jar sizes. Do not can this in half gallon jars, since quart is the largest size.