Who doesn’t love the sweet punch of lime? Now that berry season has started, there always seems to be some kind of pressing need to use up berries in the fridge. This particular beauty comes from me squishing the first local raspberries this year while still at the store and feeling guilty about it and still buying them. It also turns out the secret to a well-balanced limeade is a little bit of lemon juice? Well, I suppose it makes sense since limes are equal parts sweet and tart, which can be overwhelming; while lemons are bright and just tart.

Juice the limes in quarters, trust me, it’s much easier.

Raspberry and lime are the best of friends, so why not try out this beverage and let The Leafy Cauldron know what you think on Facebook?

Raspberry Limeade
Makes 2 litres

1 cup raspberries
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
2 cups lime juice ( I needed 8 limes to get this much)
Zest of one lime
2 limes, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
Juice of two lemons
1 litre cold water
2 cups ice, plus more for serving
Fresh raspberries, to garnish

In a small saucepan, combine the raspberries and sugar. Using the back of a wooden spoon, crush the raspberries into the sugar, until no whole pieces remain. Add the 1 cup of water and bring to to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, lower the heat and let simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and strain out the raspberry seeds. (The straining of the seeds is entirely optional, but my husband has a retainer and those aren’t any fun for him.) Set the raspberry simple syrup aside to cool while you get to juicing the limes. Once you have juiced the limes and lemons, add the cooled raspbery simple syrup, lime zest lime slices. Add the water and ice and shake to cool down. Serve over ice and garnish as you wish.