Quick Limoncello Recipes

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.

ITALIAN LIMONCELLO

Steps:

• Combine alcohol and lemon zest in a 1-gallon jug with a tight-fitting lid. Place in a cool, dark place to rest for 1 month. Swirl contents of the jug every few days.
• Combine water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat; stir until sugar is fully dissolved. Set simple syrup aside to cool completely, 15 to 30 minutes.
• While simple syrup is cooling, place a sieve over a large bowl and line with coffee filters. Strain alcohol mixture through coffee filters to remove all sediment. Replace the filters as needed until all the mixture has been filtered. Filter one more time to ensure all sediment has been removed. Discard coffee filters and zest.
• Add enough simple syrup to the alcohol mixture to reach the desired alcohol-by-volume percentage; refer to an alcohol content calculator.
• Divide limoncello among 6 wine bottles. Seal with corks. Allow to rest in a cool, dark place for 1 month, swirling every few days. Strain one more time to remove any leftover sediment if desired.
• Place 1 bottle of limoncello in the freezer and serve icy-cold. Store remaining bottles at room temperature.

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.

QUICK AND EASY SUMMER LIMONCELLO CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray.
• Whisk sour cream, white sugar, canola oil, eggs, 3 tablespoons limoncello, and lemon zest together in a large bowl.
• Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in another bowl. Add flour mixture to sour cream mixture; stir with a wooden spoon until batter is just combined. Pour batter into prepared cake pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 33 to 35 minutes. Cool cake in the pan for 5 minutes.
• Whisk confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons limoncello liqueur together in a bowl until glaze is thin and smooth. Spread glaze over the top of the cake. Cool cake completely before slicing.

QUICK LIMONCELLO

Steps:

• Peel the lemons carefully, making sure you have none of the white pith on the peel - you want just the yellow.
• Put all the peel and 150 grams sugar in a food processor and process until the peel has been finely minced into the sugar. Empty mixture into a wide-mouthed jar, add vodka, and screw top closed.
• Put in a dark, cool place. Shake once or twice daily for four to five days.
• Make simple syrup by bringing sugar and water to boil in a small saucepan. Let cool.
• Strain lemon peel/vodka mixture into another jar. Press on solids to remove as much of the liquid as possible. Discard solids. (if you can find something tasty to do with them, please mail me with the recipe directly ;-) ). Add cooled simple syrup and stir to combine. Pour into a the bottle you will be using.