This recipe is translated from Cookpad Italy. See original: Italy

Lemon Syrup

Name: Lemon Syrup
Total time: 10800 s
Yield: 10 1/2 cups of syrup
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 21 large lemons (total weight about 9 1/2 lbs); From which I collected 7 1/4 cups of juice (already filtered); 7 cups sugar (about 3 lbs); In general: for 4 cups of juice, I used about 3 3/4 cups of sugar, but I recommend sweetening gradually and tasting to better adjust the proportion to your taste

Marcella Sweetly Elvie @Sweetly_Elvie

Salento

This year, the lemon trees in my mother's garden are particularly full of large, juicy fruits. After making so much excellent marmalade (to the point of having no more space in the pantry of wonders), I wondered how else I could use all those lemons that absolutely couldn't go to waste. When I saw this syrup in @mimmaciccarese's recipe book, the solution popped into my head. What better recipe than this to make a genuine homemade refreshing drink for the summer? But not only that! This syrup can be used in countless ways. I'll give you some ideas in the notes🔸at the bottom. I also collected all the zest that would otherwise have been thrown away; I chopped it in a food processor and stored it in a glass jar in the freezer, ready to flavor a dessert, a risotto, or any other dish. There you go, I've given you a thousand reasons to try making it because, moreover, it's very easy to prepare!
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Ingredients

about 3 hours

10 1/2 cups of syrup

21large lemons (total weight about 9 1/2 lbs)
From which I collected 7 1/4 cups of juice (already filtered)
7 cupssugar (about 3 lbs)
In general: for 4 cups of juice, I used about 3 3/4 cups of sugar, but I recommend sweetening gradually and tasting to better adjust the proportion to your taste

Cooking Instructions

about 3 hours

1

Brush the lemons well under water to remove all impurities. Dry them and then, with a peeler, remove all the zest from half of the lemons (only the yellow part) and collect it in a bowl.
2

Finely chop the collected zest with a food processor and set aside for the syrup.
3

Then, if you dislike (as I do) throwing it away, take the yellow zest from all the other lemons. Chop it in the food processor and store it in glass jars. Freeze and use as needed to flavor desserts or other dishes.
4

Proceed with sanitizing the bottles by placing them in the oven at 250°F. Leave them in the oven until bottling. Also sanitize the caps by boiling them in a saucepan for about 7-8 minutes. Then let them drain on a clean cloth and dry the inside perfectly with paper towels.
5

Cut all the lemons in half and squeeze them. Filter the obtained juice and measure it. Also measure the sugar based on the amount of juice. Pour juice, chopped zest, and sugar into a large enough pot, stir to dissolve the sugar.
6

Turn on the heat and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes from the moment it starts boiling, then bottle in sanitized 2-cup glass bottles. If you don't like feeling or seeing the lemon zest at the bottom of the glass, strain the syrup before bottling.
7

Once filled, immediately close the bottles with screw caps. Be careful of burns!
8

Let them cool, a vacuum will form, and they will keep in the pantry for about 1 year.
9

For longer-term storage the next day, proceed with pasteurization by immersing the syrup bottles in a pot and covering with water up to 3/4 inch above the cap. Boil for 20 minutes and then let cool slowly. (I wrap them hot in a wool blanket and let them slowly return to room temperature.)
10

When the syrup has returned to room temperature, label with the production date and store in the pantry, preferably in the dark. Once a bottle is opened, keep it in the fridge and consume within about ten days.
11

If the entire process of sanitizing the bottles and caps (before) and pasteurization (after) has been done correctly and a vacuum has formed, they will keep for a couple of years at room temperature. If not, store the syrup in the fridge and consume it within about ten days at most.
12

Serve the syrup by putting one or two fingers' worth (according to taste) in a glass and fill with fresh water, sparkling or still as you like. Stir and enjoy the fresh and refreshing drink, a load of vitamins ideal for cooling down in the summer when the heat exhausts us.
13

NOTE: 🔸 This syrup is a natural digestive. Diluted with water, it becomes a non-alcoholic soak for cakes but also a great granita. Poured diluted with water into appropriate molds, you can make popsicles.
14

🔸 You can flavor desserts, tea, and herbal teas, swirl into ice creams and yogurts, filling creams for cold cakes; make jellies to garnish the surface of a cake... Also great as a substitute for sorbet after a fish-based meal. There are truly countless ways it can be used.

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GRACIELA CUARZO🇦🇷 and others reacted

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GRACIELA CUARZO🇦🇷

Come vedi ho preparato la tua ricetta !! IL profumo, colore, e sapore le fanno onore a questa frutta generosa. Grazie mille.

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Written by

Marcella Sweetly Elvie @Sweetly_Elvie

on May 15, 2021 12:35

Salento

Visual designer di nascita, autodidatta in cucina, mi piacciono soprattutto i dolci ma amo anche i salati. La passione per il cibo e la curiosità per le combinazioni culinarie mi spingono a sperimentare con gli ingredienti ma mi piace anche cucinare piatti della tradizione del mio Salento. Tutto ciò che pubblico è opera mia