Limoncello Dolce and Desserts Discuss Limoncello in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; I should have been more precise in what I wrote: I steep the lemon peels in high strength alcohol to ...

[KiwiPete]

I should have been more precise in what I wrote: I steep the lemon peels in high strength alcohol to get the maximum colour/flavour extraction. Then later on I cut it down with the sugar syrup and/or more water to the final strength of about 30% (by volume). Sorry for the misunderstanding..

And yes, in the US buying Everclear is probably a better option..

[gjbingham]

That sounds better. Somewhere around 60 proof, 30% by volume makes a nice digestivo. Make sure its ice cold for those hot summer nights. Idescribeably delicious! Salute!

[mfiore]

Well, organic lemons were on sale, so I couldn't pass this recipe up. I'm now 40 days into it.

I'm a nerd when it comes to glass-ware, having fallen into the marketing scam of Reidel (different glass shape for every wine)

Does anyone know the proper glass to serve Limoncello in?

[sarah h]

We bought some limoncello recently and while my husband liked it, I thought it tasted disgusting. Yours looks very different from the store variety though ... does this mean it tastes different too - maybe better - worth another try, this time homemade?

[egalecki]

Originally Posted by mfiore

Well, organic lemons were on sale, so I couldn't pass this recipe up. I'm now 40 days into it.

I'm a nerd when it comes to glass-ware, having fallen into the marketing scam of Reidel (different glass shape for every wine)

Does anyone know the proper glass to serve Limoncello in?

I've made it twice, myself. It's better with the higher proof vodka than the lower one. I know some people use everclear, but I think the vodka is fine. We keep it in the freezer in those funny little beer bottles with the rubber stoppers with the wire bails.

As for serving it, we use plain shot glasses. Not really spiffy, but then, most of my glasses don't match, although I do have different ones for red and white wine!

I personally love Limoncello, but my husband likes grappa. He fell in love with a smoked grappa last time we were in Italy. I think grappa tastes like lighter fluid, though. I much prefer lemon pledge. (what my mom calls limoncello)

[gjbingham]

In Italy, they sold sets of small digestivo glasses, similar size to shot glasses, but with a different shape - many different shapes available. We often used water glasses filled about a quarter of the way up on hot summer nights after a big meal. A couple of refills and you were toast!

[Dino_Pizza]

Well, it's winter in Southern California which means it's too cold to work on the pizza oven (it's 60 degrees outside, I could catch a cold) and my Eureka Lemon tree has hundreds of ripe lemons I can't even begin to use.

Here is my 1st foray into making Limoncello. We can't get Everclear in California and to be honest, I was impressed by how smooth Vodka Limoncello was that they made on board the ship on my last cruise versus the real-deal (which I luv too). I will use higher proof vodka next time, this is just left over Sterling and Absolute from a party and Elizabeth says the higher proof is better.

The bottle on the left is GRATED lemon peel and the one on the right is done with a potato peeler just to see what the difference will be besides the grated one turning yellow after just 1 day. The peeled lemons (17 of them!) took a long time (ok, 40 min.) since I scrapped any white pith from the back side. Maybe it will just take longer to color and leech out the oils? I plan to shake the jars everyday, so they're in the wine cellar and I can't miss them. Cheers, Dino

[texassourdough]

Hi Dino!

I had to pick about a hundred Myers lemons before a freeze and I did everything lemon I could including making 2 bottles of Lemoncello. The work is definitely in the peeling! Took me about 45 minutes also. I thought mine was better than the commercial lemoncello I have bought!

My recipe had me steep them in the vodka for 4 days, then add the sugar water. Good Luck!
Jay

[mfiore]

Dino, I'm jealous of your lemons. I had a tiny little potted lemon plant (Myer) that I kept indoors for about 3 years. It produced 2 small lemons in that time, but has since died last week. Apples we can grow in Michigan. Lemons, not so well.

[DrakeRemoray]

Now I am thirsty! We made a bunch of cherry vodka (Chericello?) from a firends sour cherry tree. Seems like a similar process. I think I need to get some lemons!

Drake