Macey has been giving me lemons and oranges from her trees, which is amazing to have the fresh citrus around but if I don't need tons of the fruits then I'm scrambling to find ways to use them. I shared tips on household uses for lemons (click here for that post), next up is making limoncello - a sweet, lemony, vodka drink that is delicious on it's own, mixed with sparkling water, or added to other cocktails.
I found a basic recipe at better home and gardens, there are lots of recipes online - I didn't add all of the simple syrup as directed and it's quite sweet, you can adjust the level of sweetness by adding more or less of the syrup. I left the peels in the vodka for 14 days and the lemon flavor is super intense, Dave said it reminded him of cough syrup hahah - not sure if that's because of the peels, maybe I left too much pith on the peel (the white part), or because I left it a few days too long; my simple fix was to add more plain vodka to dilute the strong lemon flavor and now it tastes great to me.
No, it doesn't taste great to me just because I was taste-testing vodka at 9am this morning! Pretty sure anyway...;)
10 large lemons
750 ml bottle vodka
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups water
Lemons cut into wedges, optional
Scrub the lemons with a vegetable brush. Using a vegetable peeler, carefully cut enough of the yellow peel away from the white pith to make 2 cups lemon peel. (If desired, juice lemons and reserve for another use.
In a large glass pitcher or bowl, combine the 2 cups lemon peel and the vodka. Cover tightly and let stand in a cool, dry place for 10 days, gently swirling the mixture in the pitcher each day. Strain mixture thru a fine-mesh sieve; discard lemon peel. Return the lemon-infused vodka to the pitcher.
When you're ready to make the limoncello, combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring just to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cool to room temperature.
Pour syrup into the lemon-infused vodka; stir to combine. Cover and chill overnight. Pour limoncello through a funnel into clean bottles; secure the lid. Add lemon wedges if desired. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
I gave a bottle to Macey and she texted me something like she 'doesn't know what this is, and she doesn't drink very often, but this makes her think maybe she'll start'! Hahahha, I'm not trying to corrupt anyone or turn them into drinkers - but if you like lemon and drinks now and then (or know others who do!) you might want to try making this ;)
Recipe found here at bhg
4.3.22: 🔥 week 14
4.3.21: Easter white chocolate bark
4.3.20: neighborhood messages
4.3.19: sheet pan pork chops
4.3.18: peeling potatoes tip
4.3.16: chicken soup
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