Every year when I bottle peaches, I always wonder if there is something I can make with the skins. Last year, I made peach honey (pick your own’s recipe), and it was delicious, but this year, I thought the idea of peach lemonade sounded FANTASTIC! So I played around with the idea, tinkering with the flavor. I think next year, I’ll use a cup less sugar.
after blanching all the peaches for canning, throw the skins back into the water used for blanching and let them sit in the fridge overnight. Boil the whole mixture the next morning, blending the skins, and then pouring it through a sieve to get the liquid. Discard pulp. You will need about 16 cups of liquid when you are finished. If you don’t have enough, you can use juice or enough water to make 16 cups.
To zest lemons, get a peeler and peal the zest in big strips. You don’t want the little sprinkles, you need big chunks. Place in a heat-resistant bowl and set aside.
Combine sugar and 3 cups of flavor-infused water (from step 1) and boil until sugar dissolves, creating a simple syrup. pour over lemon zest. Let soak for 10 minutes, then strain out the peels, reheat the water, and pour over the zest strips a second time. let sit. (you have to do it twice because the water cools and the oils arent completely released). strain a second time. You can now dehydrate the peels and make candied lemon strips. I’ve not done this but I want to next time.
Save the pith and pits for Citrus Pectin
Add peach water, syrup, and lemon juice in a pot. Simmer until desired flavor is achieved (can take a few hours). And remember it’s a concentrate, so it should be strong!. Add peaches and simmer another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. you may blend peaches, but I left mine in chunks. It’ll make great texture when I use it.
Pour into warm sterile jars and process for 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude (I live at 5000 feet).
To reconstitute, it’s about one part concentrate to one part water or soda, but adjust it to taste.
- 20 cups water
- Skins from about 2 boxes of peaches (the more you have, the more flavor)
- 6 cups sugar
- 10 lemons, washed and ready to zest
- 4 cups lemon juice (can use from lemons above)
- 6 cups fresh peaches, diced
- after blanching all the peaches for canning, throw the skins back into the water used for blanching and let them sit in the fridge overnight.
- boil the whole mixture the next morning, blending the skins, and then pouring it through a sieve to get the liquid. Discard pulp. You will need about 16 cups of liquid when you are finished. If you don’t have enough, you can use juice or enough water to make 16 cups. set aside
- To zest lemons, get a peeler and peal the zest in big strips. You don’t want the little sprinkles, you need big chunks. Place in a heat-resistant bowl and set aside.
- Combine sugar and 3 cups of flavor-infused water (from step 1) and boil until sugar dissolves, creating a simple syrup. pour over lemon zest. Let soak for 10 minutes, then strain out the peels, reheat the water, and pour over the zest strips a second time. let sit. (you have to do it twice because the water cools and the oils aren’t completely released). strain a second time. You can now dehydrate the peels and make candied lemon strips. I’ve not done this but I want to next time. *See 2021 update
- Add peach water, syrup, and lemon juice in a pot. Simmer until desired flavor is achieved (can take a few hours). And remember it’s a concentrate, so it should be strong!. Add peaches and simmer another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. you may blend peaches, but I left mine in chunks. It’ll make great texture when I use it.
- Pour into warm sterile jars and process for 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude (I live at 5000 feet).
- To reconstitute, it’s about one part concentrate to one part water or soda, but adjust it to taste.
2021 update: this year’s peach lemonade is so much prettier! I don’t know why. But I’m not complaining. The instructions are still accurate, but as I was thinking it over, if you have big peach chunks like I do this year, you probably should boil it for 30 minutes instead of 20. Just to be on the safe side. Peaches take 30 minutes to process in my altitude. I sent my husband to Costco for something this year and said, “oh, I need lemons. Bring back whatever Costco offers as far as lemons,” so I could try my hand at this recipe again. The bag he came home with had 20 lemons in it so I decided, what the heck, let’s try berry lemonade, too! You can find that recipe here.
In the berry recipe, you’ll note that I threw the lemon peels into the pot and let them come up to a boil the second time. I tried the lemons the regular way in the peaches and still felt like I wasn’t getting enough time to soak in the sugar in order to candy them. So we experimented on the berry syrup with much better success.
