This homemade Shirley Temple is made with homemade grenadine for a delicious colorful drink! My favorite childhood beverage complete with sword toothpicks!
It’s the weekend and you probably would get a kick out of making this a little sooner than later. So I’ve decided to give you a fun-little weekend recipe. A beverage with history, a childhood favorite that’s simple and refreshing and one I happen to still love!
Shirley Temple’s anyone?
I remember vividly. I was 6-ish, the place was Annie McPhee’s. It was like the ONLY restaurant in my then small town of Ortonville, Michigan. My family would get a giant pizza which came with the most amazing house-made breadsticks I’d ever tasted. My sister Julie and I would kick back with a couple “Kiddie Cocktails” (aka Shirley Temples) with a orange slice and cherry as garnish.
I’d toss that orange slice aside and save the cherry for the very last. It was the forbidden fruit, that maraschino. I could easily sit on the couch and eat a whole jar, make no bones about it.
TO Make These Shirley Temples You Will Need:
- all-natural cherry juice
- granulated sugar
- lemon-lime sparkling water or 7-up soda
- orange slices, for garnish
- maraschino cherries, for garnish
- sword toothpicks
I like to use lemon-lime carbonated water, you definitely could use 7-up or Sprite but I think this doesn’t make the drink overly sweet. My girls like these a lot and they’re crazy easy to make! You could also make other flavors and jazz these up by using different juices like pomegranate, currant or even blackberry! yumz.
Measure 4 cups of cherry juice.
Pour the juice into a sauce pan.
Then bring the cherry juice to a simmer over moderate heat.
Reduce by half, which should take about 20-25 minutes.
Next, remove off of the heat and add in 2 cups of sugar. See? Who needs pop when you have all this sugar??
Give it a good stir and let cool completely.
Lastly, add some ice to a gigantic glass or wide-mouth jar.
Fill the glass 3/4 of the way with lemon lime soda.
Top with the cherry syrup.
How purrrrty!
Complete with maraschino cherries and an orange wedge speared with one of those swashbucklers-sword toothpick thingies. So, so fun and thirst quenching!
I hope you love this homemade Shirley Temple as much as we do!
Enjoy! And if you give this homemade shirley temple recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Shirley Temple's with Homemade Cherry Grenadine
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-natural cherry juice
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 liter lemon-lime soda
- orange slices, for garnish
- maraschino cherries, for garnish
- sword toothpicks
Instructions
- Heat the 4 cups of cherry juice over moderate heat until simmering. Reduce by half. Remove off of heat then add two cups of sugar, stir and let cool completely.
- Recipe makes about 3 cups of syrup. Leftover syrup can be stored in the fridge up to one month.
- Fill glass 2/3 full of sparkling water or 7-up, add a third of the cherry juice (more or less to taste) and garnish with fresh orange slices and maraschino cherries.
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THANK YOU in advance for your support!
How long does the cherry juice keep? My girls loved Shirley Temples when they were kids and I'd love to surprise them with one now!
I'd say up to a month! 🙂
I loved Shirley Temples when I was a kid! I would always order them with extra cherries (the best part!), and I remember this one time they nearly added an entire jar of cherries to mine. I was in heaven. 🙂
This sounds really tasty and a lot more cherry flavored than just maraschino cherry juice in 7-up 🙂 I'm going to have to make these for my daughter too! I think I'll add some gin to Mommy's!
I put vodka in mine
Ohhh Andrea, I think you're onto something!!
Laurie, you always impress me!
homemade Shirley Temples…brilliant!
Told blast from my childhood. Love that you made them homemade. 🙂
My family use to go a small local Mexican restaurant in my hometown and I would ALWAYS get Shirley Temples with extra cherries. I still get these every once in a while when I feel like being a kid again. Thanks for the blast from the past!
looks wonderful
Oh, I love Shirley Temples 🙂 I can vividly remember my first time drinking one, too. I was on a ship for a wedding reception and was gobbling up those maraschino cherries, haha. Then, I remember spitting the stems out over the side of the ship, lol.
But thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I love the homemade grenadine idea! Now, I have a question–is there a reason you
Laurie, thank you for this recipe! I love grenadine syrup, but I don't use it very often. If I make it, maybe I'll use it or freeze it. Blessings from Bama!
Shirley Temples bring me back to my childhood. Can't wait to try these at home. And I love that you used mason jars.
I love your blog, love the food you make and absolutely love your photos…you make everything looks absolutely fantastic.
I am honestly not sure I have ever had a Shirley Temple. I don't know how I made it through childhood without my parents letting me have one. We are going to have to have a serious talk this weekend, and then I will have to make these so I can try it!
Hester~ you totally could!
Wow, that looks delicious, actually! 🙂 Great recipe, and I love the homemade grenadine!
Absolutely LOVE these!! So cute.
I love shirley temples! You just made my day.
It has got to be at least 15 years (if not more like 20) since I had my last Shirley temple! That drink brings up so many memories it's silly. I can't believe I've never tried to make it. I'll give the cherry grenadine a try, but I'll probably skip on the maraschino (I also had to scroll up to cut and past the word) cherries for either the jarred sour kind or fresh now that I&
OMG I can't wait to try these. I'm pregnant and have to stick to mocktails so I am super excited to try this!
I grew up drinking Shirley temples on special occasions. I love them! I need one right now and this syrup sounds killer!
OMG THESE LOOK SOOOOOOO GOOD LAUREN~!! Like, I need to make them tonight!! 🙂
What do you use to add text to your photos now that picnick is leaving us?? 🙁
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made these today for my family… we loved them!!! thanks for the recipe 🙂
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Where do you get pure cherry juice. Brand name please