Limoncello
Serving suggestions:
- As an after dinner drink, serve one ounce in a small chilled aperitif glass.
- As a refreshing dessert, pour an ounce over a large scoop of shaved ice and garnish with a lemon twist.
- Limoncello is best when served directly from the freezer.
- This liqueur is homemade for private use only. Not intended to be sold or served commercially.
Makes approximately 2.5 - 3 quarts
Ingredients
- 10 thick-skinned organic lemons (Eureka, Lisbon or Citron)
- 1 liter of the best 190-proof alcohol
- 1¾ pounds sugar
- 1 liter water
Procedure
- Wash the lemons in hot water before you start. Remove the peel with a vegetable peeler, removing all white pith on the back of the peel by scraping with a knife, and put the peels in a 4-quart Mason jar.
- Add the alcohol, and stir. Cover the jar, date it, and put it to rest in a dark cabinet at room temperature for 3 days.
- After 3 days, take out the lemon-alcohol mixture. In a sauce pan set over high heat, stir the sugar and water together and boil for 5 minutes. Let the sugar syrup cool completely in the pan, about 30 minutes. Add the sugar syrup to the lemon-alcohol mixture.
- Stir well to combine. Replace the cover on the jar and note the finish date. Return it to the dark cabinet and store for 15 more days.
- At day 15, remove the limoncello from the cabinet. Strain the mixture and discard the lemon peel.
- Pour into clean, unused bottles with caps or decorative corked bottles. Store the bottles in the pantry, but put one bottle at a time in the freezer until ready to use.
Recipe courtesy of Sur La Table, 2008