In the back of my mind, I always wanted to make prickly pear something. I thought jam would be lovely. I never really thought about a summer drink because, well I have never been a huge sweet drink person (I am a water and lemon sorta girl). But this summer, mint tea and lemonade have been so enjoyable, I decided to plunge into prickly pear lemonade. It is made from the fruit of the prickly pear cactus…
To be honest, I also just wanted to know how to extract the juice of the fruit.
I have this idea in the back of my mind, where I want to learn how to use everything native to me. Learn how to survive just in case of…
In doing research about eating cacti and its fruit, your brain starts to open up real wide, realizing that even in the desert, there is a wealth of edibles that the earth gifts to you.
So, I just have this thing in me, that has always been a part of me, where I like to learn how to do all sorts of things.
That's probably why I dabble in lots of this or that. I might not be good at everything, but I do like to try things out.
So, where was I?
Ah yes, prickly pear lemonade.
How does one attain a glass of such a concoction?
Let us find out, shall we?
On our property we have a massive ridiculous amount of prickly pear cactus.
Read all about prickly pear cactus, Opuntia, here.
Who knew it was all edible, pads too?
Well, I knew just from living here.
But I never ate any of it myself.
Some prickly pear fruits (also known as tuna in Mexico) have deep orange fruits, others have bright purple/fuchsia fruits.
I chose the bright purple ones.
This is a tale of me winging the prickly pear process with limited knowledge.
Although, I did google here and there.
It begins with the prickly pear cactus itself, as you see below.
I didn't know how people harvested the fruits, as they are covered in spines.
So I thought, hey, tongs could work.
And they did.
I plucked them right off and popped them into a container with fresh cool water.
This may or may not aid in making the skin even easier to peel off.
Closer to sipping, yes.
But first…
The goal is to remove the skins without touching them or contaminating anything with spines.
A sharp easy to handle knife and fork work really well.
What I did was sat the little fruit on the table like an egg, with the smallest end facing up.
Then I turned it on its side, sliced the bottom off, and sliced a thin line from top to bottom on one side, not too deep into the flesh.
Then you just wedge your fork in and roll the skin off.
Voila, the fruit is inside.
Yep, a nugget of fruit inside.
Amazing right?
Who knew?
If my description of removing the skin makes no sense –
Then feel free to watch this video right here.
I do not know the person who made the video, but thanks to him!
(bonus – the video background music is Eiffel 65 which reminds me of my 20's, love it)
You will see step by step, how to extract the fruit in the center.
Cute!
But what does it taste like you ask?
I have decided, the closest description is watermelon.
Not exactly, but somewhat.
It is sweet and lovely.
Also, some of my pears were too ripe, like below, so I just scooped the fruit centers out with my fingertips. As you can tell, they are FULL of seeds.
One of the steps will be removing the seeds.
So here we go…
I removed the skins of about 45 prickly pears.
Then I just used a bowl, and put a sieve with a handle over it.
Like you see below.
Then I popped some of the fruit into the sieve and mashed it with my fist until all the juice was pushed through.
This is the process of extracting the juice.
I did this about 5 times, and got GOBS of seeds.
Which you can simply discard.
I now had a bowl with about 3 cups of prickly pear juice.
Fresh, raw, healthy - pure goodness.
So good for you.
Now for the lemonade part.
I wanted a large pitcher of prickly pear lemonade, so here is what I whipped up.
Vanessa's own Concoction for Prickly Pear Lemonade:
4 cups water
Juice of 4 large lemons
1 cup granulated sugar
2.5 cups prickly pear juice (about 40 fruits)
I put my prickly pear juice in a bowl in the fridge overnight.
This is not necessary, but it was nice to have cold juice to use the next day.
To begin.
I took a bowl, put in 4 cups luke warm water, and the juice of 4 large lemons.
Whisk.
Then I put in 1 cup of sugar.
(I actually started with a 1/2 cup of sugar and worked my way up until it tasted right)
Whisked until sugar was dissolved.
(you can try honey or agave nectar, or other sweeteners to your liking)
Then I poured in the prickly pear juice, and whisked again.
Done.
Easy.
Good for you.
And surprisingly amazingly delicious in every way.
Like, really delicious.
And you can actually taste the prickly pear.
Meaning that, the lemons did not take away from the flavor at all, which is why I only used 4.
Mmmmmm…
Icy cold drink on a hot day.
I am sure you can make delightful cocktails with it too.
There are lots of recipe on-line, such as here.
Prickly pear margaritas or a splash of vodka to booze it up a little if you like that?
Confession, we are boring. We don't ever drink alcohol.
(Lovee hates the taste of the stuff)
I know, we are such prudes, haha.
Not intentionally though.
I did drink during my younger dancing all night and partying days, but alcohol always made me sooo violently sick. I don't know why.
So, one day I just never had it again.
But I keep good stuff on hand for friends, and love mixing drinks.
A tiny splash at a little get together wouldn't do me in.
Anyhow, point is – you can use the prickly pear lemonade recipe with a little vodka if you want to serve some adult beverages 🙂
But, it's beyond delicious just as is.
Prickly Pear Lemonade…
It's lovely stuff, I am telling you.
It was worth all the work to extract the juice, really.
So, there you have it…
Clink clink!!
Good stuff!
I have to go play now…
You see, we are being gifted the most unusual weather.
As you know, rain.
And clouds, two days of clouds and no sun, hoooray!
Monsoons are usually in the afternoon, an hour or so, and then the sun comes back out.
Not all day rains.
Or night rains, like we have had.
For 2 days it has been all rain and drizzle.
It's like, the weather got lost or is in the wrong town.
Lovee hates it, I LOVE IT.
He asks, "so, umm, Dovee, you happy about the weather?"
OH YES!!! I exclaim as I run barefoot in cool rain and mud.
I even make my neighbor across the way meet me in a deep crystal clear huge pond puddle while it's pouring, and we get soaked to the bone.
It was grand.
GRAND!!
This hasn't happened in ages upon ages.
I am a happy camper.
Although, lots of baby pumpkins are rotting on the moist earth, so I have to turn them over and over.
This is unusual to this dry land.
A pumpkin rotting from too much moisture is unheard of here.
I have never seen such summer rain in my 10+ years of this country place.
If you need rain, I am hoping and wishing on stars for you too.
Nothing like rain in a place that hasn't had it in forever.
Yummm!
Happy day!!
Looove, V
ps: I heard that one of my neighbors down the bend made 5 gallons of prickly pear wine. Interesting right? I will ask him about it.
Vanessa:
This is really interesting to me. I see prickly pear fruit at my grocery all the time. I admit, I’ve never tasted it. I was never really sure what to do with it or how to handle it. Thank you for the tutorial. It looks delicious!
xoxo
Kim
Gerushia’s New World
P.S. The give-away goodies are very lovely!
Having had the absolute pleasure of tasting this lovely concoction I must say this is the very best prickly pear item I’ve ever had. The lemon and sugar perfectly supported the prickly pear taste.
BTW for your readers; almost all prickly pear products are made with lemons & sugar. Most oversweeten and mask the flavor of the cactus. V.V.’s comparison to watermelon is appropriate. It is, though, much heartier and more densly flavored than h2Omelon. Over the years I’ve eaten all the prickly pear jams, jelly candy, etc., and, with a friend, made hundreds of gallons of prickly pear sorbets. While working or hiking in the desert you can eat the fruits right from the plant. Best done while wearing gloves, though. Just slice from top to bottom & open it up.
This juice can, also, be made with saguaro fruit. But if you’ve ever climbed a saguaro to pick the fruit you’d realize why it’s so rare.
Anyway, this is one of your best things ever. Right up there with the peach crisp. Thanks for letting me finish it.
Vanessa! I found your prickly pear experimentation fascinating! It was so interesting, and the juice looks sooo beautiful.
We have had more rain than usual recently, but today is hot and sunny. Enjoy your rain while it lasts. You are a good mama to turn your baby punkins to keep them from spending too much time on the soggy earth!
Beautiful giveaway items! I will withdraw my name from consideration since I have already won a giveaway from here in the past. I want to share the fun. : )
mmmmMMMMMMMM!!!! That prickly pear lemonade is soOOOOoooOo pretty, lucky Mr.Lovee!!! hehe I LOVE sachets!! and I LOVED
your video of the rain, I was just wishing for rain this morning!!! Love the rain!! and the boys are soOOOoooooOOO sweet, Miles going by with his treasure and Matty begging to come in!! hahaha!! LOVE it! I’m looking for that basil pesto recipe right now sooOOOOOOOooo I’ll cATCH you LATER SWEETPEA!!
What a fun experiment! I wish we could get prickly pear fruit in Oregon, so I could try this … but I’ve never seen it imported up here.
If you remember I said I would not read my blogs before bedtime any longer because YOU have the most delicious banquets and I get frustrated at my boring brown bag of a fridgerator…………sp now I am reading my blogs late afternoon….and what do I find….”Cocktail Time” in the desert! fortunately for me alcohol does agree with me…others would argue that lolol…..so off I go to hunt down a prickly pear up here in the North Pole..oh I mean North Bay Ontario….I love to visit, thank you for being YOU!!! and thank you once again for the fab chance to win Tracy’s most generous treats 🖤Debi
The color! I can hardly believe that it is real Miss V! I love the idea of this so much but will have to just fantasize about the refreshing taste of this vivid juice as there is not a prickly pear near me as far as I can tell! I do so love the recipe. Maybe you should start a little bottling factory for the pear juice and let us northerners buy it! 😉 And how nice to have such a sweet friend who shares her goodies. Enjoy the day. Erin
That color says Summer Yummer, alright! I bet it is incredible!
The rain sounds delightful, too…I’d be right there dancing with you. Everyone thinks I’m crazy when it is a cold, drizzly day and I am in the best mood and they keep asking when it will stop….haha!
Please, oh please put my name in the hat! Tracy’s lovelies are drool-worthy, for sure! 🙂
Yummmmm as in EEeeeee! And, such a wonderful rich color too! I’ve had prickly pear jam and jelly candies which were quite tasty, especially the jelly candy. Truth be told jelly candy generally is Queenie’s fav. Anyway, bravo on your bevy creation is sounds totally delish and is such a beautiful color for summer and I think it would be lovely on a Halloween or Thanksgiving feast table.
Up here in the Valley of the Frying pan most of our monsoon weather is in the middle of the night. Long about 2/2:30 in the morning we are awoken to lightening, big thunder, driving rain and the pitter patter of nervous Delicious paws and they scurry to be as close as possible to their humans. Poor Callie Delicious especially is not a fan of thunder or firecrackers for that matter. They both enjoy the resulting cool water puddles to run through in their backyard kingdom. I totally agree we are having a very wet monsoon season, one of the biggest I’ve seen in a long time.
Have a really great day!
Always, Queenie
Hooray for more rain for you! Big giant clouds are meandering about here, but no rain yet. Prickly pear lemonade sounds like such fun, messy, hard-work fun- the most gratifying I think! Thanks for sharing!
It never rains here. The last time we got rain was in…February? So long ago I can’t remember. We don’t even get those monsoon thingies–just a regular rain. Before this rain, when was the last time you had rain? The weather can be unkind sometimes 🙁
I would love to enter for the giveaway as well 🙂 The “lemonade” looks great! I’ve never seen it made like that! Creative creative…
Love the giveaway! I’ve also learned something new here today so different from where I’m living…..I’d like to see a cactus in something other than a flower pot!
Oh HO! THE Lovee chimed in, so it MUST be good. How funny that his account name is Mr. Lovee.
Those look GOOD! We have tons of them in Texas, too. We primarily have those deep purple ones. I’ve juiced them, but not nearly as efficiently as you did.
When I was a little girl, I stupidly thought I could rub off the spines with a wet paper towel. It DID get some of them, but then I bit into one. Oh, the horror. It was like nipping a porcupine. I cried and cried and had teeny tiny needles stuck in my lips and tongue for days.
I also occasionally eat nopalitos….the big prickly pear leafs they cut into strips. Have you had them? I have tried the pickled kind, and I like the flavor, but jarred, they have kind of a weird, gelatinous consistency. Not as bad as okra, but sort of slimey. It’s so funny to see the huge whole leaves/pads at the grocery store. I always wonder how people prepare them when they get them home. A chef friend told me there is a spineless variety that they use for cooking.
What a beautiful color, by the way. I wonder if it would stay true as a dye. Sometimes food dyes give you wacky things…..like that juice might turn something aqua or olive colored. I wouldn’t want to waste all my hard work making dye when I could drink it, though. Maybe you could use the spare cut up fruit. But then you’d get needles in your petticoats. Or whatever you were dyeing.
NEATO, V.
Oh my goodness! Prickly Pear Lemonade looks sublime! So refreshing. I am not usually a cactus person but I am kind of wishing we had some around here somewhere.
Oh my little New Age Hippie! Your concoction is beeeutiful! I do believe that I would love it. **sigh** I have been missing visiting you. **blows kisses** Deb
Wow Vanessa, You and Mr. L are just Full of Fascinating Fun Facts! You make such a great team!!! What sweet compliments he gave you!
Sooo that Cactus Lemonade sure looks delicious and so festive in that glass and would really taste good right about now! The night time rains here have made it so humid.
I see that I can’t get any pears off my cactus it must not be mature or large enough yet. My cactus that had yellow flowers in May grew from wind blown seeds into my backyard and this is the first year it bloomed.
Ssooo sorry to hear about your pumpkin littles, hope you can save them! You put tons of love into there tending. <3
Miss Kelly, just give them a good tug 🙂 They should be ready.
You have to twist and pull a little. Oh yes, we (me and lovee)are
like a comedy of wackos ;))) When we arent bickering, haha!!
😉
It has been so cool and breezy here. I am at a pretty high elevation,
so maybe it is much cooler where I am? It has been dark and rainy for
almost 3 days now. WILD weather times, love it!
I think most of the pumpkins will be okay. I have gotten some
lovelies, so, I am happy if none others make it I will be sad – but I have
gotten a bunch of big oranges. The more gourmet ones are having the most
trouble.
Do you have mosquitos???
Love, V
Your Prickly Pear Lemonade looks divine! Of course we don’t have any cactus here in Maine but the Beach Roses are full with Rose Hips. Do you have any Rose Hips on your rose bushes? I know that you would make something wonderful from them too!
Too funny…..in Ontario we have drought like conditions….so you must have all our rain! You don’t realize how important it is until you don’t have it….I raise my cyber cocktail glass to you! Here’s to more rain….chin chin 🙂
Your prickly pear juice is such a beautiful color. I wonder if you could use it as dye?
When my mother lived as a young teenager in New Mexico, she and her two brothers would eat the fruit of the prickly pear. She called them cactus apples. I guess that was the common name for them. Your prickly pear lemonade sounds marvelous!
Oh! And yes, I would love to be in on Tracey’s ‘Side of the Road’ giveaway. How charmingly sweet!
=^..^=
The Black Cat (It’s almost THAT time of year…fall is coming!)
Sis! This looks positively delish! I love the vibrant color of the pear juice. I used to use our cousin’s pocket knife when we were kids and just peel the skin off the prickly pears and we’d eat them standing right over the prickly we had taken them off of. Your way is so much smarter and less painful than our way.
The pads or nopalitos are pretty good with the champiñones en escabeche that you like so much… add some radishes that have sat in vinegar for a little while, and mmmmmmm… es algo delicioso!
I love prickly pears, would eat them with salt and lemon as a kid.
Definitely going to try this recipe it looks refreshing for the last part of summer. Thank you!
This looks so beautiful and delicious!! We don’t have prickly pears here in England, but we do have lots and lots of rain!! Your photos and descriptions are a feast for the eyes, it has me thinking of other creative lemonade brews I might come up with!
Your prickly pear lemonage looks so pretty.
Would you believe that cactus can survive here? There is a large patch of it at the end of a driveway a couple miles from us. I’ve seen the fruits on there.
I think its great that you want to learn and do so much. I love taking things from the garden and canning, freezing, pickling or making them into jam.
I’m like Mr. Lovee I just don’t care for the taste of alcohol. Except a very occassional Pina Cola or something with Malibu rum in it that disguises the taste (once every 2 or 3 years). I have reflux and the alcohol just burns all the way down so why bother.
I wonder if you could make Prickly Pear Turkish Delight? or you could use some of your rose water to make it…….
What a neighborhood you have! I would thank my lucky stars if you lived next door to me! Prickly pear wine sounds yummy….I have never tasted prickly pear but have used pickled cactus pads in chile verde.
Lovee is a lucky man (on the bickering part ~ that means you’re still in love ~ its only when you completely stop acknowledging you’re in trouble!) My grandpa used to have a storage shed converted into his cottage and he loved my grandma dearly……!
Love, love the giveaway treasure’s…beautiful…Vanessa, you are REALLY a funny woman…you make me laugh so hard with your creativity and antic’s…you are hysterical (in a great way!)…Anne (BTW – almost ready to jump off that diving board!!!)
Oh my goodness! How much time did it take from plucking the pears to straining to pouring? What a process- but oh how lovely! I bet it was as tasty and refreshing as it looks! 😀 xo H
Heidi, I think the whole time was about 2 hours – if you dont count that I
refrigerated the prickly pear juice overnight (not for any reason). I only
did that because it had gotten late and I wanted to save the concoction for when
it was warmer the next day.
So, about 2 hours
Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.com
Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.com
So pretty!!!! We’ve had a fairly wet summer this year as well…in comparison to the past 3 summers of droughts & wild fires. I love summer rain. We’re also starting to get the cooler temps of fall. I AM LOVING IT!!!!!! Not to rush the days away, but I cannot wait for autumn. :))))
Tiff, we had a super dry summer until just this last week. 3 or 4
days of rain made up for waiting for rain since February. But now its
sunny again, haha!!!
Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.com
Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.com
In a message dated 8/24/2012 2:58:02 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
Yummmmm…. can taste it now. Oh so very good. You are so very creative, in the kitchen as well as your wonderous art and photography.
I hope I am in time for the giveaway…
We are back to very dry weather again so, out comes the sprinkler and all the pitchers and hoses.
Ooooohhh… that sounds just too delicious! =D Someday I’ll have to try it out… ^-^ Which may be sooner rather than later if I find a school to go to in Arizona or New Mexico… So many exciting places I could pick! =D
But now I must be off to get some jars for blackberry jam. I spent all afternoon picking & getting tangled in brambles, but now this weekend I’ll make jam! And probably a pie or two… Mmmmm…
So happy you’ve had some rain! Yay!!! I’m jumping in puddles with you in spirit. ^-^
XOXO
Miss Vanessa…
May I just say, you turn everything into magic!!!
=)
Your prickly pear drink looks so pretty!! What a beautiful giveaway!!!!!!!!!! Crossing my fingers!!
Lisa
Wow, that prickly pear lemonade turned out just beautiful. I would’ve been squeamish with the stickers from the cactus. You are very brave! So glad that the rain gods had smiled down upon you. Your video was scary and exhilarating!
Thanks to Tracy from Side of the Road for her lovely giveaway. I’m always crossing my fingers to get chosen!
Have a wonderful weekend drinking and splashing!
Dawn
I love reading your blog, I discovered you awhile back and read you always.
Prickly Pear lemonade huh??? Not sure if I’d try it, but you did make it sound very good…
Love all of your posts you are sooo cool!
I used to have an abundance of Prickly Pear at my other property so I often traded the Nopalitos and Tuna Fruit of it for Tamales with the Neighbor Ladies. Then they would always come back and offer me the delish Prickly Pear Cuisine they had made from the Harvest… LOVED it all. From the cooked and pickled Nopalitos, which resembled Oriental Sugar Snap Peas in taste to me… to the Tuna’s made into Candy & Teas, which resembled Pear/Kiwi in taste, but which was distinctive enough that it really has its own unique flavor that we thoroughly enjoyed. Alas, making everything from scratch myself proved to be too labor intensive, so I always just worked my Gypsy Trades with the Ladies who were experts at preparing them and who used every bit of the Harvest so that none was wasted. *Winks* Dawn… The Bohemian
Vanessa,
I LOVED the prickly pear information. It makes me want to grow them at my house, but I guess New England isn’t the best place for them. I’m glad you had rain to play in.
Regards,
Beth
Oh thee are sooo gooooood those prickly pears. I am pleasantly
surprised, and now in love!!! 😉
Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.com
Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.com
In a message dated 8/26/2012 4:01:55 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
Ooooo, that sounds like a dream!!!!
Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.com
Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.com
In a message dated 8/26/2012 10:34:14 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
Thank you so much Rebecca, haha! You are too nice for saying i am
cool 🙂 I would love to be cool, haha!
Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.com
Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.com
In a message dated 8/26/2012 10:27:34 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
Wishing we had some rain here too! Had no idea that prickly pear had fruit in the middle. I learn something new every day! The giveaway sounds lovely.
I love your prickly pear post and I love the drinking glasses with the stripes.
I was not familiar with prickly pears…what a gorgeous shade that lemonade is. It looks really good! Thanks for sharing the ins and outs of creating the drink!!! Sorry I missed your little giveaway…congrats to the winners; the gifts look so lovely. 🙂 xoxo
Dearest Vanessa,
How fun to see how something is made with these amazing fruits! We had never tasted them until we visited Arizona a few years ago. Unfortunately, we only tasted them in a candy, which we assumed was so sweet that it overwhelmed the true flavor. But we were so amazed by the color and would love to try them again!! You just don’t expect to see that color naturally! But then, I was amazed by the other colors I saw in the different cacti, especially some light purple ones I loved, contrasted by some bright chartreuse-leafed trees (I think they were mesa verde). It was just incredible to visit a place with a whole other color palette you did not expect to see!!
Hugs!
Betty
Hi Vanessa, Am send folks over to your post about prickly pear lemonade after making it myself. Wish I had read your blog first! So well done. Heather
Vanessa-I just showed these to Violet now that she’s old enough to appreciate them. I used to eat these when we had them growing in Austin. I tried making jelly once but it didn’t set up. Your lemonade is so pretty!