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A Vintage Lemonade Recipe (and a modern one, too)

July 17, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 2 Comments

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This simple vintage lemonade recipe will quench any thirst, and so will the modern recipe for a frosty and frothy blended basil lemonade! 

a tumbler of vintage lemonade

THE INSPIRATION FOR A VINTAGE LEMONADE RECIPE

A few years ago, my mother came across a well-loved copy of Canada’s Favourite Cook Book in an antique shop.

It’s aged and ragged with faded sauce stains and bonus recipe cards that were cut out of cereal boxes.

This book dates back to 1910 and is a compilation of recipes sent by ladies from both Canada and the United States who were eager to share their best recipes.

The only problem?

Well, if you’re the least bit familiar with vintage recipes, you’ll know that they can be a bit vague…

Canada's Favorite Cook Book antique copy

Lemonade should be made in the proportion of one lemon to each large goblet. Squeeze the lemons and take out any seeds. If you do not like the pulp strain the juice. Sweeten the drink well though that is a matter of taste. The pleasant tart taste should be preserved. Add water to the juice and when serving put cracked ice and a thin slice of lemon to each glass.

E. J. C. (a contributor to Canada’s Favorite Cook Book)

MAKING VINTAGE LEMONADE VIDEO

Making lemonade the old-fashioned way is a breeze, but if you’re brand new to the Kitchen, you’ll see that I do things a little bit differently when it comes to my videos. If you like what you see, be sure to check out the Vintage Kitchen Vixen channel on YouTube for more vintage-inspired videos!

This article may contain affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to purchase something after clicking on one of the links in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

MAKING LEMONADE FOR CROWD

When making lemonade for more than one person, buy lemons in proportion to how many folks will be imbibing.

In other words, six guests, six lemons.

To make life easier, make a large batch of lemonade instead of making individual glasses as implied by the vintage recipe.

Juice the lemons, remove the seeds, and add the juice to a pitcher, with or without the pulp.

Next, add the sugar, sweetening to taste.

Finally, fill the pitcher with water, leaving plenty of room for cracked ice and plenty of fresh lemon slices.

SWEETENING THE LEMONADE

When making lemonade, I like using plain old organic sugar and mixing it in without any additional fuss.

Another option involves making a quick simple syrup, using equal amounts of sugar and water.

If we use the example of six lemons above, that would call for 24 teaspoons of sugar and water or one half-cup each.

The syrup will quickly cool down when the water and cracked ice are added to the lemonade.

If you prefer using natural sweeteners, other options to consider include maple syrup, honey, stevia, and agave syrup.

If you’re set on using an alternative sweetener, definitely sweeten the lemonade to taste bearing in mind that these will alter the flavour of the lemonade.

CRACKING THE ICE

It’s not the end of the world if you use regular ice cubes, in fact, it’s probable that few people will notice this extra step.

The benefit of cracking the ice is that it will cool the lemonade faster.

Plus, it’s fun to take a hammer to a bunch of ice cubes.

If you fix up cocktails on a regular basis, a Lewis bag with a mallet is a fun addition to the home bar.

Otherwise, wrap up a tray of ice cubes in a clean kitchen towel (empty the tray first!) and beat them with a wooden rolling pin, or something similar.

TO SPIKE OR NOT TO SPIKE?

When making or serving lemonade, one question that might crop up is whether or not to spike it.

Bourbon lemonade is a summer favourite, but there are other alcohols to consider as well.

Try it out with vodka, gin or rum.

Tequila is another spirit to consider adding to that icy glass.

The best part about this old-fashioned lemonade recipe is that it makes a perfect building block for fun lemonade cocktails, like these.

FUN LEMONADE ADDITIONS

There are so many possibilities when it comes to punching up a glass of lemonade.

  • Raspberries and strawberries make colourful additions, especially when muddled.
  • Experiment with using sparkling water instead of still water.
  • Use flavoured simple syrups, like strawberry or raspberry.
  • Stir in blended watermelon.
  • Get mango in there. Ripe peaches. Cherries. Nectarines. Blueberries and blackberries. Really, you can’t go wrong with fresh fruit!
  • Raid the herb garden. Play around with sage, lavender, rosemary, mint or basil. Speaking of which…

TRY THIS FROSTY BLENDED BASIL LEMONADE RECIPE

frosty blended basil lemonade

Honestly, you can’t go wrong with the vintage lemonade recipe.

It’s light, refreshing, and perfect on a hot day.

That being said, it’s a lot of fun to play around with flavours, and basil is one of them.

If you’ve never ventured out so far as to take a sip of basil lemonade, you’re in for a treat.

This blended basil lemonade is both frothy and frosty and looks beautiful and intriguing poured in a glass.

My husband loves it with a cheeky shot of gin, but it is absolutely delicious as is.

The recipe is below!

MAKING LEMEONADE FROM SCRATCH

drinking lemonade in my victory garden

Thank you so much for dropping by the Kitchen!

If you do wind up making one of these lemonade recipes, I do hope you’ll come back to let me know your thoughts and to drop a quick rating.

In case you didn’t know, recipe ratings mean the world to bloggers as they help us out a lot!

I read each and every one of my comments, so if you have any questions, just drop them in the comments below!

And just in case you’re looking for other summery recipes, be sure to check out…

OTHER SUMMERY RECIPES TO EXPLORE

Three Classic Bourbon Cocktails for Summer

Spiced Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

This savoury (and very classic) Meditarraenan puff pastry tart: Pissaladière

Rustic Tomato Puff Pastry Tart with Pesto and Kale

VINTAGE LEMONADE INGREDIENTS

For 6 servings

6 lemons, juiced

1/2 cup sugar

12 cups water

2 cups crushed ice

lemon slices to garnish

FROTHY BLENDED BASIL LEMONADE INGREDIENTS

For 5-6 servings

3 lemons

1 cup basil

1/2 cup sugar

6 cups water

2 cups ice

PRINTABLE LEMONADE RECIPE CARD

Vintage Lemonade & Frosty Blended Basil Lemonade

What better way to cool down on a blazing hot day than with an ice-cold glass of sweet and tart lemonade? This vintage recipe is exactly what you'd expect: a good old-fashioned glass of classic lemonade. The frosty basil lemonade marries basil and fresh lemon juice for a refreshing beverage sure to wow everyone's tastebuds.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Course Drinks
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

Vintage Lemonade

  • 6 lemons juiced
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 12 cups water
  • 2 cups crushed ice
  • lemon slices to garnish

Frosty Blended Basil Lemonade

  • 3 lemons
  • 1 cup basil
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 6 cups water
  • 2 cups ice
  • basil leaves to garnish

Instructions
 

Vintage Lemonade

  • Juice the lemons, removing the seeds.
  • If desired, strain out the pulp.
  • Mix the lemon juice with the sugar until dissolved.
  • Add the water, crushed ice, and garnish with sliced lemons.

Frosty Blended Basil Lemonade

  • Excluding the garnish, add all of the ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend on high for 30-60 seconds.
  • Pour into glasses (or a pitcher) and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Notes

  • To minimize the possibility of sugar crystals, make a quick simple syrup by bringing equal amounts of sugar and water to a boil. Make sure to subtract the water from the water measurement.
  • Alternative sweeteners to experiment with include maple syrup, honey, date syrup and stevia, sweetening to taste.
Keyword Lemonade, Vintage Recipe

PIN IT FOR LATER

vintage lemonade basil lemonade recipe pin

Love and gratitude,

kiss

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. David

    July 30, 2020 at 11:55 PM

    Hi Sylvia;
    Canada’s Favorite Cookbook was also published under other titles and can be downloaded from the Web Archive.

    The ideal cook book : Gregory, Annie R 1902 578 pages
    https://archive.org/details/idealcookbook00greg/page/344/mode/2up
    Lemonade Recipe by E.J.C. is on book page 344

    Also issued under the titles “Woman’s favorite cook book,” “Canada’s favorite cook book,” and “The American family receipt book.”

    Woman’s favorite cook book 1902 610 pages
    https://archive.org/details/womansfavoriteco00greg/page/10/mode/2up

    The American family receipt book 1902 578 pages
    https://archive.org/details/americanfamilyre00greg

    The national course in home economics 1917 660 pages
    https://archive.org/details/nationalcoursein00beez
    Also by Annie R. Gregory, with other authors.

    Status: Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright restrictions

    Reply
    • Sylvia Rose

      July 31, 2020 at 12:22 AM

      Thank you, David! I never thought to check if it was available on a web archive. It’s also interesting to learn that it was published under multiple titles. Fascinating!

      Reply

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