South African Homemade Lemonade

• cup sugar, reduce to 3/4 cup if you'd prefer it less sweet↗1 cup
• cup water↗1 cup
• cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed↗1 cup
• handful raisins↗1 handful
• cold water and ice, so that you can dilute to taste

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   The secret to perfect lemonade is to make a simple syrup by dissolving the sugar in warm water so that it’s dispersed evenly instead of sinking to the bottom. So if you have a stove handy, heat the sugar and water in a small saucepan and stir until its completely dissolved; otherwise just stir very well.

2. 2

   Extract the juice from the lemons. I use my Granny’s juicer but you can do this anyway you like.

3. 3

   Pour the juice and sugar water into a jug, throw in the raisins and leave for a while, overnight if possible, to allow them to start fermenting and give it a fizz.

4. 4

   Before serving add about two cups of cold water and a bag of ice to the jug – more or less, depending on how strong you want it to be. If the lemonade is still a little sweet for anyone’s taste, chuck a slice or two of lemon into the glass.