Special Juice

Thursday, January 19, 2012

In the immortal words of Alana from Toddlers & Tiaras, “My special juice is gonna help me win!!“.

Like Alana’s secret go-go juice (it involves Mountain Dew), this special juice really will help you win, not child beauty pageants, but the admiration of breakfast or brunch guests. It might also help you win beauty pageants, I just haven’t tried. Yet.

I’m getting off track.

This is my favorite juice blend and something that we make for very special breakfasts. I say “we” because Bryan juices the fruit. We don’t have anything to help juice, he uses a fork and sheer determination and then swears we are never making this stupid juice again, but of course we do.

Grapefruit, lime and ginger is not a combination I would have thought of without the help of Rose Bakery. This simple idea packs a punch, it is so bright and fresh. For a real treat, put the pitcher of juice in the freezer for about an hour before you plan on serving it. The juice will get nice and slushy and even more amazing. I use white granulated sugar, because it preserves the color of the fruit juice. You can use a more natural sugar but it will muddy the color and make it less charming.

Grapefruit, Lime and Ginger Juice (Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery)

  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
  • 2 ruby red grapefruits (regular grapefruits are fine, too)
  • 2 limes

In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar and ginger. Bring to simmer and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Juice the grapefruits and limes into a small pitcher. Strain the ginger syrup into the pitcher and stir well to combine. Chill until cold. Stir again before serving.

42 comments to “Special Juice”

  1. ginny lee says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 9:32 am

    way more charming than toddlers in tiaras. this looks like an excellent use for the 20# bag of Texas ruby reds in my pantry.

  2. A of Little Alexander says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 9:42 am

    Sounds fabulous. And a perfect way to brighten up a cold winter morning. Not to mention that amazing color…

  3. DessertForTwo says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 10:09 am

    I’m cracking up at y’all saying you’re never gonna make this juice again…and then you do. I have several things in my kitchen like that. Everytime I make granola and stir it and bits of oat and nuts fly on my floor, I swear I’ll never do it again. But then, 2 weeks later when the mason jars run low, I’m at it again.

  4. Renate says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 10:18 am

    Question, Tim… do you strain the ginger bits out after simmering it? The juice in your photos doesn’t look pulpy.

  5. Stella says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 10:22 am

    Yup. I’m ready to run that through the ice cream machine.

  6. Tim says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 10:23 am

    Renate! Good catch, thanks for looking out for me. Yes, strain the ginger syrup. Fixed.

  7. Tim says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 10:32 am

    Stella, totally- add a shot of vodka and churn!

  8. Valerie - Nettleandquince says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 10:37 am

    Beautiful and sounds delicious. Trust Rose Bakery to come up with a simple treasure like that, and you to unearth it for us!

  9. Amy says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 10:59 am

    Hahah! Best first line of a post, ever!

  10. Zakiya says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 11:44 am

    With Monday’s custard cornbread and today’s “special juice” it looks like I have TWO reasons to host breakfast this weekend!!

  11. la domestique says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 11:45 am

    It’s grapefruit week at la domestique, and I love the grapefruit juice here! I like a little sparkling water in my juice. Love the combo of grapefruit/lime. Fantastic!

  12. Jill Mant~a SaucyCook says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 11:50 am

    OMG my name is Jill and I think I have a problem….this juice sounds indescribably delicious and I am thinking Martini!! The funny thing is I rarely drink hard liquor but this recipe may change that!

  13. Raleigh Habersberger says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 1:18 pm

    I make a similar drink. Its orange lemon ginger. I was living in Southern Mexico for a little while and the oranges are often picked before they are ripe so they are more sour than what I am used to oranges tasting like. I began adding lemon to fresh squeezed orange juice in the USA which satisfies my craving for that sour orange. I also started adding in simple syrup but when I make the simple syrup I boil it with freshly sliced ginger, blend it strain it and leave it in the fridge. 2 parts citrus, 1 part simple syrup, 3 parts water. So refreshigng! I also use soda water instead sometimes and it is possibly the healthiest and tastiest soda you could ever drink.

  14. Erica says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 1:51 pm

    I have been making this juice for a while, but I do it slightly differently, which is a bit easier, and which I LOVE.

    I juice the grapefruit and lime (I don’t have special tools either…yay messy hands!) into a measuring cup with a pour spout. I then grate some ginger into it using my microplane (I like a healthy dose…maybe an inch or so of ginger?). Then, in a second measuring cup I put a heaping tablespoon or so of honey. I strain a little bit of the juice in and mix it up (just to get the honey dissolved), then strain in the remainder of the juice (leaving the pesky ginger solids behind). Finally, I serve this mixed with sparkling water (probably 1/3 juice and 2/3 water). Such a lovely way to start the day…kind of like a non-alcoholic paloma (:

  15. Tim says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    Hey Erica- Yay to easy, but I don’t like this juice with honey. I am sure some others will, but I tried and didn’t like the honey flavor, it kills the brightness of the citrus (granted, just a little, but enough to bother me). But yes, it does make it easier and others think they would like the honey flavor- it is a great thing to try!

  16. Anna says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 2:29 pm

    How refreshing this juice sounds….and I can imagine the gratitude from brunch guests from not serving them plain old OJ (not that OJ isn’t good but sometimes achange for the taste buds is necessary).

  17. sarah @ two tarts says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    sounds delicious! I’m a major juice fan…and I even have a fancy juicer. If you ever move to Colorado and Bryan gets sick of his juicing-workout, let me know! :)

  18. Laura@howtocookgoodfood says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    This juice uses 3 of my favourite flavours and sounds so good as well as being so good for you. Brilliant! One drink I will be having for breakfast and might use as a cocktail base too ;-]

  19. Meg says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 4:56 pm

    … just a manual countertop citrus squeezer, that wouldn’t be a big deal, right? :-),

  20. amelia says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 5:05 pm

    I would NEVER choose to make this drink less charming. White granulated sugar it is!

  21. Kartik @ Bakeology 101 says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    I wonder if blood oranges might be interesting substitute here. I can only imagine the deep red color it would impart to the juice and I love the flavor of blood oranges.

  22. Emily says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 5:40 pm

    Mmmmmm! This looks familiar…does that mean I’m special?

  23. Tim says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 5:55 pm

    Amelia- Ahhhhhahahahaha! I thought of you when I wrote those words. Thanks for calling me out.
    Emily- Yes, very special! x

  24. kickpleat says:

    January 19th, 2012 at 6:23 pm

    Yum!! I don’t have grapefruit at the moment (for shame), but I’ve got a stack of blood oranges and everything else needed for this. I also have a pretty little Nigella Lawson juicer that should do nicely. So making this, maybe slushy, and maybe with a shot of whiskey.

  25. Prue says:

    January 20th, 2012 at 3:23 am

    Delicious! I will definitely try this one out, two of my favourite ingredients. Have you ever tried it without heating the sugar and ginger first?

  26. Alisa says:

    January 20th, 2012 at 5:15 am

    For this drink I will grate me some ginger, can’t wait to try this…and you did say a shot of vodka right? :)

  27. Melissa says:

    January 20th, 2012 at 7:40 am

    Oh, this sounds amazing. I’m picturing it for brunch mixed with prosecco…yummy!

  28. Tim says:

    January 20th, 2012 at 10:24 am

    Hi Prue- you heat the sugar and ginger to a) dissolve the sugar and b) help infuse the ginger flavor into the syrup. I would not recommend skipping this step.

  29. Angharad says:

    January 20th, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    Noone wants charmless juice! I jest, this looks fabulous and definitely a good plan for brunch. Planning on it.

  30. JoAnn says:

    January 20th, 2012 at 5:32 pm

    Your special juice looks yummy and I happen to have the ingredients (or ingredientzes if you happen to enjoy The Real Housewives of New Jersey). I think I’m going to make it, honey boo boo child!

  31. Hillary @ FoodCrossing says:

    January 20th, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    One word: MARGARITAS.

  32. Valerie says:

    January 21st, 2012 at 10:28 am

    Can I please convince you to buy a juicer? I grew up in California, and we lived on citrus in January. There are really simple, easy tools that are handheld and amazing. I don’t know why there are so many expensive electronic citrus juicers because the simply ones work so well. http://www.amazon.com/Brilliant-Stainless-Steel-Juicer-Squeezer/dp/B000SOUV1G/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1327163208&sr=8-11

  33. Tim says:

    January 23rd, 2012 at 11:27 am

    Valerie- Apparently you can, because I just ordered that juicer. Bryan will thank you.

  34. Esme says:

    January 23rd, 2012 at 12:36 pm

    Oh goodness gracious! I make the same thing with our juicer (minus the sugar) and it comes out with a little froth on top that is DIVINE! You toss all the ingredients down the chute and you would faint its so easy and good. http://www.amazon.com/Breville-800JEXL-Fountain-1000-Watt-Extractor/dp/B0002VAFVG
    Its quite the contraption if you arent a juice enthusiast though.
    P.S. We are moving to London next month…Im going to hit up the spots in England you advised.

  35. Tim says:

    January 23rd, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    Esme- that is a beautiful machine. Jealous of your London plans! Go to NOPI asap. : )

  36. Amy (Minimally Invasive) says:

    January 23rd, 2012 at 3:52 pm

    I need this juice in my life immediately. Not sure exactly why, but it’s either the gorgeous, soft color which looks straight out of a wedding inspiration board or the intriguing combination of grapefruit with lime and ginger.

  37. Caitlin says:

    January 27th, 2012 at 9:29 pm

    Mmmm grapefruits and ginger are two of my favorite things, I never thought about putting them together in a juice!! Genius.

  38. Tom says:

    January 29th, 2012 at 10:22 am

    Just made this and it tastes great. However, mine didn’t come out the beautiful pink color in part because I had one ruby red and one regular pink grapefruit. But, I think the killer was my ginger syrup was almost the color of chicken stock even after straining. I used the microplane to grate the ginger and wonder if it was too fine and caused the off color. Next time I’ll try a fine mince.

  39. Tim says:

    January 29th, 2012 at 10:39 am

    Hey Tom, I think it was the grapefruit. My ginger syrup was a similar color after straining. I had pretty dark red grapefruit…

  40. SG says:

    February 7th, 2012 at 1:35 pm

    This sounds so delicious and refreshing!

  41. Sarah says:

    February 23rd, 2012 at 2:51 am

    I love to cook and spend time in my kitchen but it never occured to me to make a grapefruit and ginger juice myself… yes, I am an idiot! I will be making it this weekend, Thanks!

  42. Chef Portia says:

    March 11th, 2013 at 6:58 pm

    I made this for a brunch this past Sunday (complete with picture of Honey Boo Boo on the pitcher) and it was a big hit as an upgraded mixer for mimosas!

What do you think?