A refreshing recipe for a keto friendly strawberry lemonade. Low carb simple syrup, homemade keto lemonade, and dark Cuban rum. A perfect summer refresher!
Zest the lemons completely, with a microplane (If you don’t have a microplane you can use a vegetable peeler to remove the yellow zest, or some cheese graters have a microplane surface you can use). Be careful to avoid getting too much of the bitter pith (the white part between the yellow skin and the juicy lemon meat) in the zest
Next, use a paring knife to remove the white pith and any of the white membrane from the lemon leaving only the juicy lemon meat inside. Run a knife over this until it is coarsely chopped
Add chopped lemon pieces and the zest to a saucepan with 20 oz of water and add monk fruit/erythritol sweetener. Use a wooden spoon to mash up the lemon in the pot, breaking it apart while you bring the mixture to a boil
Boil for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Transfer to a glass container and set aside in the fridge until cooled. Once cooled strain mixture to remove large chucks of lemon. The more you strain the less pulp there will be
Low Carb Strawberry Simple Syrup
Add water to a sauce pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Add an equal amount of low carb sweetener and mix until dissolved
Add diced strawberries to your mixture and bring back to a boil for 2-3 minutes watching to make sure you don't boil off all your water and burn the mixture
Transfer to a glass jar through a mesh strainer to remove all the strawberry chucks leaving a beautiful ruby red syrup. Set aside in the fridge to cool until ready
Add 4 tablespoons of low carb simple syrup, and a jigger (1-1 ½ oz) of your favourite rum to a 10 oz cocktail glass with ice. Top off your summer cocktail with the homemade low carb lemonade (about ½ cup), and garnish with fresh cut strawberries
Serve and enjoy your low carb summer beverage!
Notes
Low Carb Lemonade:
The key to the strong lemon flavour with so few lemons is to use all the lemon except the bitter white pith and the seeds
You could also use 1/2 cup of bottled lemon juice for this recipe
This lemonade is closer to tart than sweet, so if you want a sweeter lemonade add more sweetener. Remember the rest of the drink is sweet too so the tart is nice!
Strawberry Simple Syrup
Because we aren’t using actual sugar here, Some of the sweetener may recrystallize as your simple syrup cools. You can just give it a quick stir before you add it to your cocktails. It will redissolve in your finished cocktail
You can experiment with other low carb sweeteners but Monk fruit/Erythritol or Xylitol work best in my experience
Strawberry Lemonade Summer Cocktail
You can use any spirit you prefer for this cocktail but I highly recommend using dark Cuban rum like Havana Club
Looking for a different low carb recipe?Something you don't see here or looking for a low carb version of your favourite recipe? Let me know so I can get working on it! Contact me directly or leave a comment!