Italian cuisine

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Authentic Limoncello Liqueur | Italian Cooking Class

Limoncello is a strong, sweet, and very lemony dessert liqueur or digestif. Homemade limoncello is made with 4 simple ingredients, pure grain alcohol, lemons, sugar, and water. Peeling the lemons is the most critical aspect for this recipe. You want the thinnest lemon peel you can possibly get, leaving as much of the pith on the lemon as possible (the white part). Too much pith and the limoncello will be bitter.

Limoncello is usually sipped after dinner as a digestif in a very small glass or tall shot glass. It’s served in 1-2 ounce portions and is best served very cold.

Chef Enrico Alaggia

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Authentic Limoncello Liqueur | Italian Cooking Class

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Recipe

PRE TIME: 20 min

COOKING TIME: 5 min

TOTAL TIME: 25 min

1 SERVING

Ingredients:

10 large Organic fresh lemon peel
1 qt. Boiling water
22 oz. Sugar granulated
1 qt. Pure grain alcohol

Directions:

Step 1

Wash the lemons well with a metal sponge, dry them and peel them with a potato peeler, removing only the yellow part and leaving the white and spongy one on the lemon, as it could give a bitter taste to the liquor.

Step 2

Place the lemon peels in an airtight glass jar and macerate them in pure alcohol for 7 to 30 days in a cool place away from light. The longer it stays and the more lemon will be extracted from the peel. Generally speaking the longer the maceration the more flavourful is the result.

Step 3

Shake the jar daily to mix the ingredients well. After the maceration (7 to 30 days) time, filter the liquid with a sieve and immediately prepare the syrup.

Step 4

Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Step 5

Let it cool and add the liquid flavored with lemon zest to the syrup, mix well and pour into one or more sterilized and airtight glass bottles.

Step 6

Keep refrigerated for up to 30 days as every passing day the flavor will become better and more intense and the sugar will be completely incorporated.

Step 7

Once ready, the limoncello can be stored for a long time in the fridge or freezer: the presence of alcohol and sugar will prevent it from freezing.

Final Notes

To cut the lemon peel, if you can, use ceramic knives or tools that help preserve all the active ingredients and benefits of the essential oils contained in the peel. During the maceration and storage phase, always keep jars and bottles in a cool and dark place as the active ingredients are sensitive to light and heat and this could compromise the flavor of the limoncello.