This Italian sipping liqueur is beautiful ... and packs a wallop. And with a little patience, you can easily make it yourself. Like many of us, it's not ready for company until it sits in a dark cupboard for a month.
Ingredients:
1 bottle (750 ml) Everclear
10 lemons - or sub out another citrus fruit (we made it with limes and with mandarin oranges, too)
Water - up to 3 cups
Sugar - up to 3 cups
You'll also need another big jar and a couple of tightly covered/corked bottles. A funnel is extremely helpful.
Preparation & Cooking:
- Use a vegetable peeler to peel all the skin from the lemons. Get just the yellow peel, and none of the white pith. Put the peels in a big jar and cover with Everclear, or push directly into the full Everclear bottle. Put the bottle/jar in a dark cupboard or pantry and leave for a full month. No tasting. I mean it. Leave it alone.
- After a month, strain the peels from the liquid. The easiest way to do this is to empty the bottle over a big bowl, through a strainer.
- Prepare a simple syrup by boiling 3 cups of water in a pot. Add 3 cups of sugar and stir to dissolve. Take the pot off the burner and cool the mixture.
- When cooled, stir in the simple syrup a cup at a time to the citrus Everclear bowl until smooth and sweet, tasting (just a spoonful, or you won't have your wits about you) after each cup.
- TIP: I used 2 cups of simple syrup for the Mandarincello and the Limoncello, but 3 cups for the Limecello, otherwise it was bitter.
- Insert the funnel into your decorative, pretty bottle(s) and pour in the Limoncello. Cork it up and store in the freezer for best results.
Serve:
Seriously, Everclear is one step away from kerosene, so take it easy. It's lovely in a tiny aperitif glass, served after dinner for sipping on the summer deck.
Or in a shot glass before dinner - you do you, whatever.
You can also mix with soda or 7-Up on the rocks for a great cocktail.
A Little Backstory:
This is Brian's recipe - and he's actually traveled to Italy, so I'm thinking this is quite authentic.
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