Those cherry blossoms give it all away. I didn’t take that picture in the summer, but rather late spring. But it was hot. And now it’s feeling like summer all the time. The day I shot these, I wanted something cool and light, and regular lemonade just wouldn’t do. I wanted something a little more sophisticated than that.

I kept remembering back to when I was living in Montreal (when I was a missionary for my church). At this little convenience store, I found these amazing juices. They were combinations like cranberry orange blossom, or strawberry rose—and all sorts of dreamy flavors like that. After leaving that part of the city, though, I never found them again, and have always wanted to recreate them.

So I got to work in the kitchen. I found a little bottle of rose water I had purchased from our local Indian market ages ago, and added that to a simple syrup. Then I threw in a strawberry or two to give it a pinkish color. I think both just make the drink pretty, don’t you?

Apparently, my daughter and her friend thought so too. When they caught me photographing the pictures, they each took a glass and guzzled them down.

The cookies in the picture are the little shortbread sandwich cookies I made last year, with the strawberry lemonade curd.

rose scented lemonade

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 strawberries
2 tablespoons rose water
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
cold water and ice

1. In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil. Add in the strawberries and boil for 2 minutes. Smash strawberry with a fork to extract color. Strain mixture through a fine sieve. Add in rose water and lemon juice.

2. Place lemon mixture in a pitcher with ice, and about 4 cups of water. Taste for strength.

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6 Responses to “rose scented lemonade”

1. Ashley says:

   15 June 2011 at 7:27 pm

   Oh, those look heavenly. Just gorgeous.
2. The Café Sucré Farine says:

   16 June 2011 at 3:22 am

   That photo could win a contest, just beautiful! And your daughter is adorable! Love you blog, you always have something wonderful, thanks, Chris
3. marla says:

   17 June 2011 at 5:14 am

   This post is so sweet and happy. The lemonade sounds amazing & your little girl is precious
4. Dana says:

   19 June 2011 at 1:58 pm

   So gorgeously pink! I bet this was great to sip on a hot day. I bet this would be great with orange water too!
5. Lindsey Johnson//Cafe Johnsonia says:

   27 June 2011 at 7:50 pm

   I think this might just be my new favorite drink recipe. I bought some rose water a week ago or so and have been dying to use it. I love the way it tastes with the hint of strawberry and the lemon. Magic, I tell you. We made ours a little stronger and diluted it with club soda.
6. Rose scented lemonade says:

   5 April 2013 at 2:54 pm

   [...] For the recipe visit:  sophistimom.com [...]