Limoncello Recipe
Limoncello is a lemony vodka after-dinner liqueur, popular in Italy and France. I took a cooking class at Sur La Table from celebrity chef Joanne Weir, and one of the recipes she tossed out there for us was limoncello. (She also leads cooking tours in Europe which sound totally fun. Check out her website!)
If you haven’t had limoncello, you’re in for a treat. It’s thick like a good old-fashioned cough syrup, and has just the right proportion of bitter and sweet to be oh so good. You’ll love this limoncello recipe.
If you’ve had limoncello, then grab this recipe and find a neighbor’s lemon tree to raid. I think lemons may be ripening right now.
This limoncello recipe takes 3 months! A long time for flavors to meld (that’s what makes it so good), but the effort on your part is minimal. It’s worth it.
Limoncello Recipe
Peel 15 washed lemons – only the yellow part, not the white part! This is very important, because the white part is the pith, and it will make your limoncello taste pithy (i.e. bad). Be sure to wash the lemons first.
Put the peels into a jar or empty vodka bottle. I used an empty 1.5L Ketel One bottle
Add 750 ml of 100 proof vodka (Smirnoff Blue Label)
Place in a dark cabinet or closet for 40 days and 40 nights. (It’s a long time – but every limoncello journey starts with a single step. Don’t be put off by the time it takes to make this great drink!)
[40 days later…]
Make a syrup: boil 4 cups water with 5 cups sugar for 5 minutes
Add syrup to the vodka/peel mixture.
Add ANOTHER 750 ml bottle of 100 proof vodka into the mix.
Cover – another 40 days and 40 nights (yikes!)
[40 days later… 80 days total]
Strain through cheese cloth into bottles
Put in the freezer. You’re done!
Limoncello is great as an after-dinner drink. Or drizzle it over ice cream.
Believe me, you’ll be getting orders for this stuff from family and friends.
Or, stop on by – I have a bottle in my freezer.
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Comment by ilinap
| December 30th, 2008
OMG I’m going to get my act together to make this for next Christmas. Sounds fabulous. I wish were there to sneak a taste from your bottle!
Comment by Cathouse Teri
| December 30th, 2008
I would like to put in an order. :)
Cathouse Teri´s last blog post..Both Sides Now
Comment by Laura
| December 30th, 2008
Ok are you taking orders? Cos I am sure it will travel well :)
Laura´s last blog post..The Good Enough Mother
Comment by krn
| December 30th, 2008
Yet another great gift idea from Dad’s House.
Btw, the Flip Mino is a huge hit. Thanks, Dad’s! :)
Comment by Heidi
| December 30th, 2008
This sounds so good. I’m pretty sure there are no lemons ripening in the Northeast right now, though ;)
Heidi´s last blog post..Perfume Power
Comment by Sam
| December 30th, 2008
Oh my. I really want to try this out… If only I could find the patience.
Comment by Cathouse Teri
| December 31st, 2008
Heidi’s got that right! Lemons here are quite inferior… especially the peels.
Cathouse Teri´s last blog post..Both Sides Now
Comment by Jimmy
| December 31st, 2008
Do you serve it diectly from freezer after 80 days? What type of glasses?
Comment by dadshouse
| December 31st, 2008
Jimmy – yes, serve this limoncello recipe directly from the freezer. Best served in a slender cordial glass. I sometimes serve in shot glasses, but it’s best sipped slowly.
Teri – sorry your lemons aren’t good for this! We’re lucky here in CA. Last time I made this limoncello recipe, a soccer mom from my daughter’s team gave me a big bag of lemons for free. I later brought a bottle of limoncello to one of our team’s parties. It was a hit.
Comment by Lisa
| December 31st, 2008
I am intrigued, but the numbers do not add up. Two 750 ml bottles plus 4 cups of simple syrup should overflow a 1.5 L bottle. Do you leave it uncapped and therefore have evaporation? I have been tempted to try and make Limoncello so I can make a Lemondrop martini on a warm Kansas evening to sip on my screened porch. A delightful thought on a 27F day!
Comment by dadshouse
| December 31st, 2008
Lisa – you’re right, it doesn’t all fit. You can poor the extra into a juice jar. Or just drink it!