HOMEMADE LIMONCELLO
The sunny taste of Italy in a bottle made using only a few ingredients (and the most important ingredient of all - PATIENCE!)
Equipment
- 1 Vegetable Peeler Zester would also work
- 2 2-gallon wide mouth jars with lid
- 6 Clear glass bottles with stoppers or flip top lid
- 1 2 quart saucepan
- 1 5 inch mesh strainer
- Masking tape & marker
Ingredients
- 12 Organic lemons
- 1 1.75 liter Bottle of vodka Mid-priced brand is fine
- 5 cups Water
- 3 cups White sugar
Instructions
- Peel the zest of the lemons with a vegetable peeler and place in the two-gallon glass jar. Be sure to avoid the white pith underneath the skin of the lemon.
- Add the vodka to the jar with the lemon peels. Cover the jar with a lid and add a piece of masking tape and write the date on the lid. Store the jar in a cool, dark place for a minimum of 7 days, but preferably 3-4 weeks. The longer you store the mixture, the better the flavor will be.
- After storing the limoncello, make the simple syrup by boiling the water in a saucepan. Stir the sugar until it dissolves in the water. Remove from heat and let the simple syrup cool for 1-2 hours and it's ready to use.
- To bottle the limoncello, strain the lemon peels from the vodka mixture through a fine mesh strainer in the second two-gallon glass jar. (You can rinse out the first jar and use it on rotation to make more limoncello). Add the cooled simple syrup to the jar with the strained limoncello mixture and give it a stir.
- Using a funnel, decant the limoncello into glass bottles, leaving a one-inch space at the top (to allow room for the stopper). Place stoppers in the bottles and refrigerate the bottles for one week. After that, the limoncello is ready to drink!