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Homemade 'Fanta' from Zucchini Juice with Orange and Lemon for Winter
Instructions
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Prepare the necessary ingredients for making the homemade «Fanta» for winter from zucchini juice with fresh orange and lemon on a clean work surface ready for the cooking step.
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For this recipe, buy young, fresh and properly firm zucchini from the market or garden. Such young zucchini tend to be the juiciest of all. Wash the fruits thoroughly under cold running water. After that, cut off the stems from the vegetables. Do not peel the young zucchini, since young zucchini have thin and tender edible skin. After cutting each zucchini in half lengthwise, chop the halves into smaller pieces ready for juicing.
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Squeeze the fresh juice from the prepared zucchini pieces using an electric juicer. We got about 600 ml of fresh zucchini juice from the prepared fruits.
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Now, using a kitchen sponge, thoroughly wash the orange under warm running water. Use a fine grater to remove only the bright orange part of the zest from the orange. Try not to touch the white pith underneath; otherwise, the finished drink will taste noticeably bitter.
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Also carefully wash the lemon on top under warm water. From this citrus, also remove only the thin colourful skin using a fine grater, again carefully avoiding the white pith. Mixing the orange zest with the lemon zest in a small bowl, set the dish aside ready for use later.
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Squeeze the fresh juice from the orange and lemon halves using a hand citrus juicer or by hand.
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When all the ingredients are properly prepared, put the zucchini juice with the measured sugar on the heat. Stirring the juice with the sugar gently, bring it to a rolling boil over medium heat.
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Add the freshly squeezed orange and lemon juices to the boiling zucchini juice mixture in the pan.
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To the boiling mixture of juices, add the prepared grated citrus zest. Cook the juice with the zest for 3-4 minutes total over medium heat, removing any foam that forms on the surface.
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Thoroughly wash the jars for preservation with warm water and dry mustard powder. Then, rinsing with running water, sterilize the containers properly over steam. Pour the hot juice into the sterilized jars and tightly close the jars with boiled lids. Turn the jars upside down on a clean towel and wrap them in a small blanket for 12 hours of slow cooling.
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The fresh-made drink does not yet have a pronounced orange aroma straight from the pan, but after infusing in the closed jars with the citrus zest, it acquires the proper taste and aroma of "Fanta". The drink is genuinely concentrated, so before consumption, it will need to be diluted with plain or sparkling cold water to taste.
Tips
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1
Choose young tender zucchini with thin smooth edible skin for the best finished juice yield, since the older mature zucchini have tough fibrous flesh that produces noticeably less juice and more pulp waste during juicing. The brief search for young garden zucchini at peak summer season genuinely matters for the most beautifully bright finished drink. Young zucchini also have the mildest finished flavour profile that pairs best with the citrus notes.
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2
Avoid the bitter white pith underneath the colourful orange and lemon zest, since even small amounts of pith produce a noticeably bitter finished drink that ruins the bright fresh citrus character. To pair this beautifully bright homemade winter drink with another properly traditional preservation recipe for a complete winter pantry shelf, try our beautifully tangy pickled cucumbers with marigolds as a contrasting savoury preserved-vegetable alternative.
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3
Sterilize the jars and lids thoroughly before pouring in the hot juice, since proper sterilization is absolutely critical for safe long-term preservation without any risk of spoilage during winter storage. The brief extra step of proper sterilization genuinely matters for safe long-term winter storage. Use the boiling water method, the oven method or a steam sterilizer according to your kitchen equipment.
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4
Dilute the concentrated drink with cold sparkling water for the most authentic "Fanta-style" finished serving experience that genuinely surprises everyone who tastes it. For another properly classic homemade preservation recipe to add variety to your winter pantry shelves, try our beautifully bright strawberry topping (sauce) as a contrasting fresh-fruit preservation alternative for sweet finishing touches on winter desserts.
FAQ
Why use zucchini as the base? +
Zucchini provides a properly neutral juice base that takes on the flavour of any added ingredients beautifully without imposing its own strong vegetable character on the finished drink. The zucchini base also provides excellent body and a beautiful natural pale green colour that, combined with the orange juice, produces the iconic orange "Fanta-style" finished colour. Plus, zucchini juice is genuinely much cheaper to produce at home in summer than equivalent quantities of pure orange juice, making this a properly economical preservation recipe.
Can I use other citrus fruits? +
Absolutely. Try adding mandarin oranges, blood oranges, grapefruit, lime or even bergamot orange in place of or alongside the orange and lemon for properly different finished flavour profiles. Each citrus brings its own character to the finished drink. Mandarin oranges produce a noticeably sweeter finished result, blood oranges add a beautiful deep red colour, and grapefruit gives a sharper more bitter finished edge. Combine multiple citrus types for the most complex finished flavour profile in the winter jars.
How long does this preserved drink keep? +
Properly sterilized and stored in a cool dark location like a cellar or pantry, this preserved citrus-zucchini drink will keep beautifully for up to a full year for the best finished flavour. After opening, store the jar in the refrigerator and consume the contents within two weeks for the best quality. The flavours actually develop and deepen significantly over the first month of storage as the citrus zest properly infuses the surrounding juice in the closed jars on the pantry shelf.
Can I make this without a juicer? +
Yes, you can grate the prepared zucchini on a fine box grater and squeeze the resulting pulp through cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel to extract the juice manually without an electric juicer. The manual method takes considerably more time and effort than the electric juicer version, but produces broadly similar finished results in the jars. A blender plus straining through a fine-mesh sieve also works as another genuine no-juicer alternative method for the home cook without the proper equipment.
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