Homemade Lemon Liqueur Recipes

LIMONCELLO

Steps:

• Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from the lemons in long strips (reserve the lemons for another use). Using a small sharp knife, trim away the white pith from the lemon peels; discard the pith. Place the lemon peels in a 2-quart pitcher. Pour the vodka over the peels and cover with plastic wrap. Steep the lemon peels in the vodka for 4 days at room temperature.
• Stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Pour the sugar syrup over the vodka mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. Strain the limoncello through a mesh strainer. Discard the peels. Transfer the limoncello to bottles. Seal the bottles and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 1 month.

LIMONCELLO (LEMON LIQUEUR)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Wash a 1-gallon glass jar and lid in hot, soapy water and dry thoroughly. Alternatively, run the jar and lid through the regular cycle of your dishwasher.
• Scrub the lemons in warm water and pat dry.
• Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from each lemon in wide strips. Be careful not to remove the white pith, which will impart a bitter flavor to the limoncello.
• Place the lemon peels in the prepared jar and pour in 1 bottle of the alcohol .
• Push down the lemon peels with a wooden spoon to completely submerge them in the liquid.
• Tightly secure the lid and set the jar in a cool, dark place to steep. Stirring is not necessary.
• After 20 or 40 days, add the second bottle of alcohol to the mixture.
• Place the sugar and 7 1/2 cups of the water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
• Decrease to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes to ensure that all the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and cool.
• When the sugar syrup is completely cool, add it to the lemon and alcohol mixture in the jar.
• Tightly secure the lid, and return the jar to a cool, dark place to steep for an additional 20 to 40 days. Over time, the liquid will absorb the flavor from the lemon peels and turn bright yellow in color.
• To bottle, first wash the bottles in hot, soapy water and dry thoroughly. Alternatively, run the bottles through the regular cycle of your dishwasher.
• Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer, or coffee filter set in a strainer, into a large bowl.
• Add 1 2/3 cups of water to the limoncello if you used 151-proof grain alcohol; add 2 cups of water if you used 190 proof. (Note: The addition of the water will turn the liquid cloudy and pale yellow in color. This is the desired outcome.)
• Let it rest for a moment so that any remaining sediment will fall to the bottom of the bowl.
• Using a narrow neck funnel, ladle the limoncello into the prepared bottles, leaving 1-inch headspace. Wipe the rims clean and secure the lids.
• Serve after dinner as a sipping beverage and enjoy.

LEMON LIQUEUR

Steps:

• Peel and juice lemons.
• Put juice and peel into a CLEAN gallon jar along with the two liquors.
• Let stand a month.
• Combine sugar and water; heat until just boiling and sugar is completely dissolved.
• Cool completely.
• Strain the liquor off the peels and combine with the cooled syrup.
• Allow to stand at least another two months.
• It will form a cloudy layer at the top; this can be removed and saved for kitchen use, or shaken to resuspend before serving. It will not completely disappear without mechanical filtration, and perhaps not even after several filterings (even coffee filters will not catch it all).

LIMONCELLO

Steps:

• Pare the zest from all the lemons, taking care not to include any white pith. Put the zest in a large clean jar and pour over the vodka. Cover with a tightly fitting lid and leave for a week, shaking the jar each day.
• Put the sugar in a heatproof bowl and pour over the boiling water, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the vodka and peels and leave for a further week, shaking the jar regularly.
• Strain into decorative bottles, adding a few strips of lemon zest to each bottle.