By definition, fruit juices are a 100% fruit-based drink, with the option "add sugar". It is an important food, which is part of a balanced diet.
Supermarkets and shops offer a wide selection of types of fruit juices, for all tastes and increasingly imaginative. Often, indeed, almost always, but they contain sugar.
Why don't we try to make simple, natural fruit juices, without additives or chemical aromas, and even without sugar at home? It can be done and is good for you! Here are some suggestions.
Apple juice
Apple juice is simple, delicate, nutritious and appealing to children. Apple juice is delicious drunk like this, perhaps for breakfast or as a snack, and has fantastic properties; or it can be used to make desserts, as a natural sweetener instead of sugar.
Pears can also be used instead of apples, or half and half.
Ingredients :
> 2 apples,
> 200 grams of water,
> 20 grams of lemon juice
Proparation : put the apples in a pan with water and lemon juice, bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook for at least an hour and a half.
Switch to a vegetable mill and if you want a more liquid result, give a quick blast to the blender.
Strain with the help of gauze and pour the apple juice into previously sterilized glass jars.
Nutritious popsicles can also be made with fruit
Grape juice, ideal for sweetening other juices
Rich in minerals, iron and potassium, grape juice is an excellent fruit juice but also an excellent natural supplement and tonic, antibacterial and a source of antioxidants : it is used to sweeten foods and drinks, to prepare sweets and cakes instead some sugar. Here's how it's done.
Ingredients :
> about a kilo of black grapes,
> the juice of a lemon
Preparation: remove all the grapes from the bunches and wash them well under running water. Put them in a saucepan, covering them half with water, add the lemon juice and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently for the first few minutes with a wooden spoon.
After about half an hour, when the berry is completely undone and the pot is filled with juice, turn off the heat and pass the liquid with a mill, crushing the berries well. The grape juice thus obtained is still poured hot in sterilized glass jars or bottles.
Strawberry juice ... with grape juice!
Ingredients :
> about a kilo of ripe strawberries,
> three cups of grape juice,
> half a lemon,
> 250 grams of water
Preparation: take a kilo of ripe strawberries, clean them and put them in a pot with lemon juice and water. Boil the whole about half an hour, then blend. Pour into previously sterilized glass jars or glasses.
Note : Use the most natural fruit possible, searching for it from the farmers, or from your garden. Remember that the more ripe the fruit is, the sweeter the juice will be . Have fun trying out the various combinations! The juices thus produced are kept in the dark, in the pantry, for several months.
