To a blender, add the strawberries, lemon juice, and a splash of water and blend until smooth, then use a fine mesh sieve to strain out the strawberry seeds.

To a wide-bottomed saucepan over medium low heat, add the strawberry pureé and granulated sugar. Bring to a simmer and let cook for roughly 10 minutes, until the color intensifies and the syrup thickens.

While the syrup cooks, to a large mixing bowl add the cake flour, 1.5 cups cold water, and the freeze-dried strawberry powder. Whisk thoroughly, until there are no clumps (even small ones) remaining.

Once the syrup has thickened, turn the heat to low, add the flour and water mixture in small (¼ cup) batches, whisking with each addition, until all of the flour and water mixture has been added. If you're using food coloring, add it in now.

Turn the heat back to medium low and continue cooking, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom to prevent scorching. After a few minutes, you'll see some clumps start to form. Continue cooking and stirring. The mixture will become very clumpy.

Once the dough doesn't have any visibly wet sections remaining (it should resemble a glossy play-doh), move it to a nonstick work surface and let it cool for a few minutes.

Once the dough is cooled, shape your twizzlers by rolling out two 1-tablespoon portions of dough into ¼ inch thick strands, then wrap them around each other into a roughly 8-inch long twist.

If you have a dehydrator, dehydrate for roughly 5 hours at 140˚F. They're done when they're chewy, but not tough, and the center is no longer wet. If you don't have a dehydrator, move to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake on the oven's lowest setting with the oven door slightly cracked open for 3-4 hours.