Lemon-Aid: Refreshing Lemonade Treats

Give Old Favourite New Flavours

Lemonade and summertime are perfect complements. Start with lemons, sugar, water, and ice cubes, add a family picnic or a sidewalk lemonade stand, and you have the recipe for summer bliss.

What could be better? Well, for starters, you might consider adding ruby-red strawberries or succulent blueberries, pitted cherries, rich vanilla, the snap of ginger, or a chilly sprig of mint.

Flavoured lemonades are this summer's big hit. By combining bright lemonade with fresh fruit, herbs, or other tasty infusions, you're onto something new and ambrosial. Maury Rubin, cookbook author and owner of the City Bakery in New York City, has been delighting customers for the past five years with his flavoured lemonades.

Back in 1994, the City Bakery even put on a lemonade festival. "People love lemonade," says Rubin, who has experimented with numerous flavour combinations over the years. The City Bakery features different flavours all summer long. "Strawberry is our most popular, hands down," he says, "probably because we use fresh strawberries from the Greenmarket. My personal favourite is vanilla. It's subtle and really tasty and friendly."

When it comes to choosing and juicing lemons, Helen Witty, author of Mrs. Witty's Homestyle Menu Cookbook (Workman Publishing), has prudent advice. "When you're buying lemons," says Witty, "choose the heavy ones; they're the juiciest. They should be heavy but not rock hard." She also suggests poking a few holes in the lemons and zapping them in the microwave for about 15 seconds apiece. This softens them and ensures a lot of juice. If you don't want to use the microwave, rolling lemons on a countertop with the heel of your hand and a little pressure also will release the juice.

The lemons are squeezed, and you have fresh berries rinsed and waiting. Now what? Well, you can either purée the berries and mix them into the finished lemonade (a past summer's drink at New York City's famous Rainbow Room called for layering blueberry purée and lemonade right in the glass), or chop them up and soak them in the lemonade, straining them out before serving. The second method lends a more subtle flavour and colour to the finished product. Lemonade is also delicious with ripe summer peaches, pitted sweet cherries, watermelon, and even mangoes and kiwis. Either technique will work with any of them.

Fresh herbs respond in a similar way. The more finely you chop them, the more flavour they'll impart. Witty likes to steep a few mint branches in a pitcher of lemonade for a gentle mint flavour. Then she adds a sprig of mint to each glass before serving, "sort of like a julep," she says. She suggests that you try using sparkling water "for a little extra pizzazz."

Blueberry Lemonade
For a subtler blueberry flavour, you can gently mash the berries in a bowl instead of puréeing them. Toss a handful of whole blueberries into the pitcher as a garnish.
Ingredients
Makes base for 12 servings
· 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
· 2 cups water
· 1 pint fresh blueberries
· 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 10 big lemons, including pulp but not seeds)

Preparation
1. First make simple syrup by combining 1-cup sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the mixture boils. Lower the heat and allow the syrup to simmer for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. In a blender or food processor, purée the blueberries with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
3. In a pitcher, combine the cooled syrup, lemon juice, and blueberry purée.
4. To serve, pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup of base into a glass and fill with water.

Kiwi Lemonade
Two of summer's most popular flavours come together in this refreshing drink.

Ingredients
Makes base for 12 servings
· 2/3 cup granulated sugar
· 2 cups water
· 5 kiwis, peeled
· 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 10 big lemons, including pulp but not seeds)

Preparation
1. In a pitcher, mix the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves.
2. In a blender or food processor, purée the kiwi.
3. Add the puréed kiwi and lemon juice to the pitcher and stir to combine.
4. To serve, pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup of base into a glass and fill with water.

Mint Lemonade
This recipe is adapted from Mrs. Witty's Homestyle Menu Cookbook by Helen Witty (Workman Publishing).

Ingredients
Makes base for 12 servings
· 1 cup granulated sugar
· 2 cups water
· Peel from 2 lemons, cut in strips
· 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 8 big lemons, including pulp but not seeds)
· 4 to 5 bushy mint branches

Preparation
1. First, make simple syrup by combining the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the mixture boils. Lower the heat and allow the syrup to simmer for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Twist each strip of peel over your pitcher to release its natural oil, and drop peels in. Stir in lemon juice and syrup. No more than a couple of hours before serving, add 3 mint branches.
3. To serve, pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup of base into a glass and fill with water or seltzer. Garnish each glass with a sprig of mint.

Peach Lemonade
Slice up a few extra peaches to garnish the pitcher and glasses.

Ingredients
Makes base for 12 servings
· 1 cup plus 1 to 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
· 2 cups water
· 4 ripe peaches, peeled, pits removed
· 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 10 big lemons, including pulp but not seeds)

Preparation
1. First, make simple syrup by combining 1-cup sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the mixture boils. Lower the heat and allow the syrup to simmer for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. In a blender or food processor, purée the peaches with 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar, depending on how sweet the peaches are.
3. In a pitcher, combine the cooled syrup, lemon juice, and peach puree.
4. To serve, pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup of base into a glass and fill with water.

Pink Lemonade
This is the original pink lemonade. It gets its colour from grenadine, sweet, deep-red syrup made from pomegranates. Some grenadines contain alcohol and some don't, so be sure to check the label.

Ingredients
Makes base for 12 servings
· 2/3 cup granulated sugar
· 2 cups water
· 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 10 big lemons, including pulp but not seeds)
· 1/4 to 1/3 cup grenadine
· Mint sprigs (optional)

Preparation
1. In a pitcher, mix the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves. Mix in the lemon juice and grenadine to taste.
2. To serve, pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup of base into a glass and fill with water. Garnish with mint sprigs, if desired.

Strawberry Lemonade
This lemonade from the City Bakery is distinctively tart. You can make it lighter or sweeter by adding more water or sugar to taste.

Ingredients
Makes 7 servings
· 1 1/2 cups sugar
· 1 1/4 cups water
· 3 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 16 lemons)
· 1 pint fresh strawberries, stems and caps removed
· Ice

Preparation
1. In a pitcher or container, whisk together the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice and stir.
2. Purée the strawberries and strain to remove the seeds. Add the strawberry purée to the lemon mixture and stir.
3. To serve, pour into ten-ounce glasses filled with ice.

Vanilla Lemonade
This elegant lemonade from the City Bakery can be made less tart by adding more water or sugar until it suits your taste.

Ingredients
Makes 6 servings
· 1 1/2 cups sugar
· 1 1/4 cups water
· 3 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 16 lemons)
· 1 vanilla bean
· Ice

Preparation
1. In a pitcher or container, whisk together the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice and stir.
2. Slit the vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise and, using your fingertips, scrape the contents of the bean into the mixture, dispersing the seeds. Discard the bean and strain out any pieces that remain, other than the seeds.
3. To serve, pour into ten-ounce glasses filled with ice.