Limoncello Recipe
Limoncello is a liqueur made from lemons. In Italy, it is usually served after dinner. You will find locally made Limoncello in Sorrento (near the Amalfi coast) and in Liguria. Both of these areas grow the lemons used to create the Limoncello. If you want to have the taste of Italy at home, try this recipe to make your own.
Please note that this is a very detailed recipe for those who have never tackled liqueur making before. Many Limoncello recipes are much simpler and faster.
Ingredients list
One Bottle (750 ml) Everclear (95% alcohol 190 Proof)
One Bottle (750 ml) good but not necessarily premium vodka (40% alcohol 80 Proof)
Note: I used a total of 2 liters of 80 proof vodka rather than the 750ml bottles of Everclear and vodka.
15 large thick skinned bright yellow lemons (without scars or flaws in the skin if possible.)
750 ml (about 3 cups) filtered tap water or distilled water (not mineral water)
4 cups pure cane white sugar (this will give thin syrup consistency; if you prefer a thicker syrup, experiment with increasing your sugar by 1-2 cups)
Note: I cut the sugar down to 3 ½ cups, and may only use 3 cups in my next batch.
Tools list
A very clean and dry gallon glass jar (the kind you make sun tea in is perfect)
Large supplies of unbleached cone coffee filters; half of them #2 size and half of them #4 size
22 clean, 100 ml. bottles that seal tightly. I found mine at Cost Plus/World Market. They are clear glass with narrow necks. The ceramic looking white hard plastic stoppers have orange rubber gaskets and built in metal hasps to hold the stopper tight. They cost $1.99 each. If you would like to try to get the exact same bottle, the label says World Market "Spain" K1 and the UPC code is 2056 8498.)
One large gallon sized glass (pyrex style) pitcher
One cup sized metric measuring cup
One punch ladle
Two funnels with inch mouths. One should have a bowl capacity to fit the #4 coffee filter, the other to fit the #2 coffee filter.
Step One
Day 1
Pour the bottle of Everclear and the bottle of vodka into the gallon jar.
Try to use organic lemons or make sure that lemons are cleaned to remove all pesticides, dirt, and fertilizer chemicals. Dry the lemons. Use a potato peeler to peel just the yellow part of the skin off the lemons. Make sure you have NO white pith on the back of the peels, because this causes bitterness in the finished liqueur. Try to make the peel pieces as large as possible, because this will make the straining process easier.
Put the lemon peels in the gallon jar and stir gently.
Cover tightly and put away in a cool (not cold) dark place for alcohol to extract oils from peels, creating an infusion.
Days 8, 22, & 36
Gently stir lemon peels to refresh exposure to alcohol. Return to cool, dark place.
Day 43
Gently stir lemon peels.
Scoop out one of the larger peels and test flexibility. If peel breaks like a potato chip, you will move on to the next step. If peel is still flexible enough to bend without breaking, return to cool dark place and try again in another week.
Step Two
Day 1
Dissolve sugar in water and bring to boil over high heat.
Set syrup aside to cool. It must be room temp before adding to infusion.
Use a slotted spoon to gently scoop lemon peels from the infusion and discard. To avoid creating small pieces that will make straining more difficult, try not to break peels as you remove them.
Using the larger funnel, the ladle, and #4 coffee filters, slowly strain infusion through filters into large pitcher. This is a messy process. The filters will clog quickly and you will use many of them.
Rinse and dry gallon jar.
Repeat straining process, transferring infusion from pitcher to original gallon jar by straining again through #4 coffee filters.
Note: I only filtered once here, that was plenty.
Return filtered infusion to jar and add COOLED syrup.
Return to cool dry place for 40 days to begin mellowing process that combines alcohol infusion with syrup to create Limoncello.
Day 40
Note: Adjust sweetness and alcohol content to taste by adding additional vodka and/or water.
Return to cool dark place for storage.
Your Limoncello is now ready to enjoy. However, the longer it sits and "ages" the smoother it becomes.
Have fun. I would recommend making a double, triple or even quad batch. You won't be dissapointed.
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