Brazilian Lemonade Recipe (Creamy Limeade)

If you want a refreshing lemonade, or well, actually a limeade, try this Brazilian lemonade! This special lemonade is zesty and fresh from the lime and not exactly super creamy, but more sweet and soothing from the sweetened condensed milk. This was one of those drinks that sounded weird but became instant hits at my house! 

 

 

Why you'll love this recipe

 

You'll love this lemonade if you love lemonades, period. I thought sweetened condensed milk would make it into a weird creamy yet fresh lemonade. It isn't. Refreshing and mildly creamy, is what I would say.

 

It was like a Eureka! moment when I tried it, it's just so hard to explain, but trust me, it's good. 

 

In addition, it is super easy to make this lemonade. You don't have to do the tedious juicing, you can just add the cut limes into the blender along with the other ingredients. Magic!

 

New summer drinks cookbook

 

Summers are made for fun drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. The fun thing is all the variety you can get! That, and because my readers seem to favor my drink recipes, is why I made a new cookbook!

 

Yes, I made a cookbook filled to the brim with 99 delicious summer drinks. This Brazilian lemonade is one of them and this is me introducing and nudging you in the right direction → get the 99 summer drink e-cookbook now! 

 

 

The cookbook includes

• 20 classic summer cocktails, like a mojito and margarita, but also 20 fun variations like an apricot rosemary gin fizz or a frozen mango daiquiri. 
• 11 fun lemonade recipes, including this Brazilian lemonade but also an old-fashioned lemonade and peach lemonade. 
• 5 cordial recipes to make the summer last just a little bit longer - including my favorite red berry cordial!
• 5 frozen mocktails the kids can enjoy as well. Watermelon frosé and piña colada popsicles are some of those.
• 5 iced coffee recipes, including one Irish and one Vietnamese. 
• 13 iced teas because iced teas are life during summer. I use a variety of white teas (like guava iced tea), rooibos (like rhubarb raspberry iced tea), black (ginger lemon iced tea) and other fun herbal variations.
• 8 creamy drinks like matcha latte, chocolate milkshake and lavender Earl Grey latte.
• 7 smoothies in the colors of the rainbow, ranging from mango smoothie to raspberry and kiwi-lime. 
• And finally, 5 infused waters to keep us hydrated all summer long!

 

So you might've noticed that there are a few of these recipes that already exist on the blog. I don't think it matters, because the vast majority of the recipes are brand spanking new. In addition, I have put all the recipes together in this bundle so you don't have to browse the website. 

 

Here's an excerpt, showing the recipe for Brazilian Lemonade:

 

We don't always know what recipes blogs have right? So now I'm just shoving them in your face. Yes, you're welcome.

 

In addition

This e-book also includes what makes a perfectly stocked home bar, what are the necessities and what is nice to have. This also includes the bar equipment, so you should be able to make the perfect cocktails and drinks no matter what!

 

It may surprise you how little you actually need.

 

Ingredients

 

Okay, so back to the recipe in question. This Brazilian lemonade is made of:

 

• Lime: What makes this drink a lemonade, although lemons aren't even used. I'll tell you why in the Recipe FAQs below. Limes make it so refreshing and tart and flavorful. If I had to choose between limes and lemons for the rest of my life, I would go for limes, 100%. Can't beat that flavor!
• Sweetened condensed milk: Milk and sugar that has been cooked down to a sirupy milk, it is amazing and so easy to make yourself. So go check out my recipe for sweetened condensed milk (it also includes how to make dulce de leche!). This is definitely what make the lemonade stand out from the crowd. I still wouldn't say the lemonade gets creamy, but more like... fizzy and exciting, okay it's mildly creamy. I know, I have a hard time explaining this.
• Sugar: To sweeten the lemonade further. I think that if you were to use only sweetened condensed milk to sweeten the drink, it would get a little too heavy and maybe then it would turn out creamy and not refreshing. 
• Water: To thin everything out and to help with the blending process. Water is good, y'all!

 

 

Yes, that's it! And really, the ratios of these ingredients can be totally up to you too.

 

Step-by-step instructions

 

In a large pitcher, combine water and sugar. Stir well, until the sugar dissolves (no, you do not need simple syrup, sugar dissolves just fine on its own!). It may take a minute or two.

 

Prepare the limes. Wash the limes, cut off the edges and then cut the limes into 8. Now, depending on the size of your blender, you probably have to do the next in batches. Like me.

 

I take half the sugar-water and all the limes into my blender. I pulse about 7 times, max 10 seconds total. This is to avoid that the bitterness of the peel will take over the drink. You just want a little bit to get the flavorful oils from the peel. Strain into a pitcher.

 

 

Repeat with the second batch of water and all of the sweetened condensed milk.

 

Now just combine the two batches together! You may think you have way too much limeade on your hands now, but I can assure you it disappears quickly. 

 

Storage

 

Fresh lemonade in general doesn't stay fresh for that long. I would keep it covered in the refrigerator for max 2-3 days. If you want to store it for longer, you can freeze it into popsicles (read under Expert tips!). Now you have zero excuses to make a smaller batch!

 

 

Recipe FAQs

 

What is Brazilian lemonade?

Brazilian lemonade is a limeade (lemonade made with limes), where chopped limes are blended together with water, sugar, and most often sweetened condensed milk.

 

By blending the whole fruit you get the oils from the lime zest as well, and the clue is to stop blending before the bitterness of the white pith takes over.

 

Brazilians love sweetened condensed milk, and I think that is what makes this a Brazilian lemonade, however, it can be made without sweetened condensed milk too.

 

Why is it called Swiss lemonade?

This drink is also referred to as Swiss lemonade or 'Limonada Suiça' in Portuguese, but no one really knows why. There are however three theories to the origin of the name:

 

1. It was invented by a Swiss restauranteur 
2. It was invented at a Swiss hospitality school
3. The drink was made with sweetened condensed milk, and the Swiss brand Nestlé was the most popular

 

Why is it called lemonade and not limeade?

This one's easy! It's because, in Portuguese, the word limão means both lemon and lime. 

 

 

Make it without condensed milk?

Yes, it can be made without sweetened condensed milk, however, I do not recommend it. The sweetened condensed milk is what makes it so special!

 

I would make sweetened condensed coconut milk if you can't eat dairy. It's so easy. Just remember that it will now taste both coconutty and limey. A good, tropical drink, but not exactly Brazilian lemonade.

 

With lemons instead?

I would not use lemons in a Brazilian lemonade, I would rather save the lemons for other lemonades like homemade limoncello, pomegranate cucumber lemonade, or any of the recipes in my new cookbook! However, if you really want to use lemons, no one is stopping you, at all. 

 

Expert tips

 

Use juicy limes with thin exterior

This is because they have less of the white pith which is what is causing bitterness. The limes should be smooth, with a thin peel. If you do not have such limes, I would reduce the pulsing in the blender to about 5-8 seconds instead, just to avoid as much bitterness as possible.

 

Make popsicles

You can make the leftovers of this lemonade into popsicles if you wish! I tried this once and they became kind of icy. But as I mention in my 6 alcoholic popsicles recipes, the secret to great popsicles is to intensify the flavors.

 

How do we do this? Well, we double the lime and use only 4 cups of water. You could also increase the amount of sweetened condensed milk by about 2-4 extra tablespoons. The flavor should be 'woah so intense!', because it mellows when it freezes.

 

 

Freeze in a bread pan or something similar, for 2 hours. Take this half-frozen mixture out of the freezer, add back to your blender along with 1 egg white. Blend until smooth and then pour into popsicle molds (or just the bread pan!) and freeze until solid.

 

The extra egg white helps with the smooth and creamy texture, so we can avoid icy popsicles. I do this with my lemon sorbet as well!

 

If you use popsicle molds, remember to put the popsicle sticks into the molds after about 2 hours.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Did you like this recipe? Here are more summer drinks I think you would love:

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below or tag me @thegingerwithspice on Instagram. And don’t forget to Pin it for later! To make sure you’re never missing another recipe, please feel free to subscribe to my newsletter. 

 

Download your FREE copy of Travels Through the Seasons Cookbook here!

 

As a thanks you will receive a free e-cookbook Travels Through the Seasons, with many delicious recipes from around the world that suit different seasons of the year. 

 

In order to keep the blog up and running this post may contain affiliate links, it will be at no extra cost to you, please read the disclosure for more information.