Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade

What’s in Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade?

Before you can serve up an eye-catching pitcher of this fruity bubbly, you’ll need to gather the following ingredients:

• Water: The base for your lemonade, it dilutes the other ingredients to create a balanced flavor.
• Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness to the lemonade, counteracting the tartness of the lemon juice.
• Lemon Juice: Provides the tart, citrusy kick that’s essential for any lemonade.
• Lemon Zest: Enhances the lemon flavor, adding a bit of complexity and depth.
• Strawberries: These are pureed to add a fruity, summery twist to the traditional lemonade. The “hulled” part means the green tops are removed.
• Sparkling Champagne: Adds effervescence and a touch of sophistication. Freixenet Cordon Negro is a specific recommendation, known for its crisp, clean bubbles.

Can you use fresh lemons?

Yes! In fact, squeezing lemons for fresh lemon juice is recommended for homemade lemonade.

You can get about 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice from each lemon. This recipe requires 1 cup of lemon juice, so you’d need about 5-8 large lemons total.

What type of sparkling champagne should you use?

Originally I thought the difficult part would be to hunt down a good (and reasonably priced) sparkling champagne, but turns out it was pretty easy.

As luck would have it, I was able to track down the exact same brand that Mimi’s Cafe uses: Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut.

Freixenet sells the standard bottle size (750ml), but they also sell “individual” sized bottles (187ml) that are fun to serve at parties.

What can be used in place of champagne?

You could omit the sparkling champagne completely and just enjoy the strawberry lemonade by itself. If the drink seems too sweet, you can always add a tad more water to dilute it a bit.

You can also add a dash of vodka or rum. I’d recommend about 1/2 cup total of these spirits.

But if you’d like your drink to have the bubbles without the booze, you could use club soda or even lemon-lime soda in place of the champagne.

How long is it good for?

Once prepared, the strawberry lemonade base can be stored in the refrigerator in a covered pitcher for up to 5-7 days.

Step 1 – In a medium saucepan, cook water and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add lemon zest and lemon juice, then give the mixture a good stir. Remove the saucepan from heat and let it cool completely, about 20 minutes. Once cooled, pour finished lemonade through a strainer to remove lemon zest.

Step 2 – While lemon mixture cools, add strawberries to a food processor and pulse it a few times until strawberries are broken down. You can either use the strawberries as-is OR you can strain the mixture to remove any excess pulp and seeds.