Plum Lemonade Concentrate

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This plum lemonade concentrate combines sweet plum juice with tart lemon for a refreshing drink base that’s easy to can. Just mix with water or seltzer to serve, and enjoy the taste of summer any time.

Prep Time1

Cook Time15

Canning Time15

Total Time1 30

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Keyword: canning lemonade concentrate

Servings: servings, makes 4 pints

Equipment

Ingredients

4 cups plum juice from about 4 lbs ripe plums and 1 cup water
2 cups lemon juice fresh or bottled
4 cups sugar

Instructions

Extracting Plum Juice

To make 4 cups of plum juice, start with about 4 pounds of ripe plums. Wash the fruit, remove stems, and cut into chunks—no need to peel or pit. Place the plums in a stockpot with 1 cup of water.
Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, mashing the fruit as it softens.
Strain the mixture through a jelly bag or cheesecloth-lined strainer. Let it drain for at least 1 hour.
For a clear juice, avoid pressing the pulp; for more yield with light pulp, press gently. Measure out 4 cups of juice for the recipe.

Making Plum Lemonade Concentrate

Combine plum juice, bottled lemon juice, and sugar in a large saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
Heat to 190°F, stirring occasionally. Do not boil.
Remove from heat and ladle hot concentrate into prepared jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.
Wipe rims, apply lids, and screw on rings until fingertip tight.
Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes (adjusting for altitude).
Remove jars and let cool undisturbed for 12–24 hours. Check seals and label.

Notes

Mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part water, tonic, or ginger ale. Adjust to taste.

The sugar in this recipe is for flavor, not preservation. Feel free to reduce the sugar, or canning safe alternative sweeteners.

Juice is extracted by simmering 4 lbs chopped plums with 1 cup water for 10 minutes, then straining through a jelly bag or dampened cheesecloth.

This recipe is only safe with either fresh or bottled lemon juice. I’d encourage you to use fresh lemon juice for better flavor, but both are fine for canning in this particular recipe.

For freezer storage, pour into containers and leave at least 1’’ headspace for expansion.

Altitude Adjustments

Process half pints, pints and quarts in a water bath canner for 15 minutes (below 1,000 feet in elevation). Between 1,000 and 3,000 feet, increase the processing time to 20 minutes. Between 3,000 and 6,000 feet, the jars should be processed for 25 minutes. Process for 30 minutes above 6,000 feet in elevation.

This recipe follows the canning times for "fruit purees" as set out by the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Their times for jar sizes for all three jar sizes are the same. Do not can this in half gallon jars, the largest size jar allowable is quart.

Nutrition