Homemade gifts from the kitchen are very best. This Homemade Rosemary Limoncello recipe will make you very popular.
This week’s project is to make home made Limoncello for upcoming Christmas gifts. I found the Limoncello recipe last Spring. The frosty bottles looked so pretty full of the frozen lemony liqueur, that I couldn’t resist giving this a try. It’s a process, so I put it on my calendar for September so it would be ready by December.
So, here we go. I started with beautiful fresh lemons. Scrub all the waxes off then rinse and dry them well before zesting.
Next is the process of taking the peel off the lemons. Instructions are very strict to peel lemons with a very sharp peeler.
It’s important not to grab any of the white bitter pith. You only want the yellow flesh. As you can see, I became concerned with my peeling skills and switched to a zester.
The liquid will be strained later, so I felt comfortable with this decision. It made working around the white pith much easier.
With my combination of peeled and zested lemon I have added a four inch sprig of fresh rosemary to make this recipe even more special.
Most of the recipes say to use Everclear. :::taking deep breath. I just couldn’t do it. It sounded awful. NOTE: Use Everclear. Higher in alcohol content, it makes a better Limoncello. I’m still trying to find out why. Everclear may not be available in every state. Use the highest alcohol content vodka you can find.
In a gallon jar that seals very well, add the lemon peel and rosemary and pour in a 750 bottle of the alcohol.
Queso the cat got involved. We hardly ever have hard alcohol in our house. She was rather taken by the whole fume-ie process.
She would just sit there glaring at it suspiciously and cautiously, squinting her eyes to shield them from the strong vapors. I couldn’t get her out of the picture. I think she was secretly fantasizing that were mixing up some sort of gasoline concoction to kill the dogs.
So there you have it for now. Seal up the jar and place it is a cool dark place. Although the total “hands-on” cook time is only 1 1/2 hours, you’ll need 14-80 days to let the lemon flavor infuse the alcohol.
Swirl once a week to make sure all the oils from the lemon peel are extracting into the alcohol. Then we’ll add a simple syrup, the remaining alcohol and store for another length of time.
I couldn’t throw out all of those naked lemons, so I now have a beautiful jar of fresh squeezed lemon juice in the fridge. Maybe some lemon ice cream or sorbet in my future????
Homemade Limoncello Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 lemons Meyer or Eureka, washed and dried
- One 4-inch rosemary sprig washed and dried
- 1500 millimeters 100-proof alcohol 2 750 ml. each, EverClear or Vodka
- 4 1/2 cups sugar
Instructions
- Peel lemons with a sharp vegetable peeler, taking only the zest (top layer) and avoiding any white pith. Put rosemary in a one gallon glass or ceramic container with a tight seal. Add zest to jar.
- Pour 750 ml. vodka over rosemary and zest; seal container. Let sit undisturbed in a cool, dark place for 40 days.
- In a saucepan, bring 5 cups water to a boil and add sugar. Cook, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Let sugar syrup cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.
- Pour syrup and remaining 750 ml. vodka over lemon-vodka mixture, stir, and seal container. Let sit in a cool, dark place for another 40 days.
- Pour limoncello through cheesecloth into a large spouted pitcher and divide among gift bottles.
Nutrition
Home made Limoncello Recipe …give it a try.
update: This concoction has been mysteriously steeping for three months in a dark corner of the basement. Every so often I’d swirl the gallon cauldron and watch the lemon flavor ooze out of the lemon peels and into the alcohol. I must admit, the suspense got the best of me and I did sneak a little taste the first week of December. Delicious. Finally the day arrived and it was ready for bottling and I simply strained the liquid through some cheesecloth, tossed out all of the lemon peel and then transferred the liqueur to gift bottles. I’m so tickled with myself that I’ll be starting another batch right after Christmas.
This is interesting, have never try this before. How long can I keep this?
served in a mason jar…perfect
This is some cool idea for a hostess gift.
Love the pic with the cat looking inside the bottle!
Pretty cool! I’ve made Kaluha, raspberry cordial, and “Farm Boys”(Dutch booze soaked raisins!) pronounced Boo-yan-is… I like lemony- might do this on for Christmas!
Very nice, it has a great color. If your state allows the sale of Everclear, you can probably also have it shipped to your house. I just buy it proudly though. 🙂
Thanks Perry – I’ll tell you a secret, I’ll haul anything up to the liquor store counter unembarrassed – embarrassed just made a better story! 🙂 I just really didn’t want to use Everclear – blech
So fantastic, I love that you made your own!
Thanks Cathy, the jury is still out, we’ll see if it’s drinkable in about a month. 🙂
My husband loves limoncello. I would never have even thought about making it myself. What a great idea!
I’ve only had limoncello once, last Christmas. I liked it. I’m just hoping this turns out ok.
Thanks Karen Lea Ann
i haven’t made this in years. It used to be a Mother’s Day tradition. Lemoncello is such a refreshing drink. Love the photo with your cat staring at the jar.
That darn cat! She was obsessed with the whole process. Why wait until Mother’s Day. I just hope mine turns out. I’ll be disappointed if not.
This looks like fun. I just bought a bottle or I would make this! I might anyway!
Thanks Stephanie, It was pretty darn easy to make. I’ve never bought any. Only tasted it once. I just hope it turns out.
Lea Ann
Great gift idea. So beautiful!
This is BEAUTIFUL!! I love the whole post and can’t wait to hear what you think of rosemary limoncello! The pictures are just perfect, too. The one with your cat – and the idea that he (she?) would like you to blow up the dogs is hysterical. When I lived in California and we had too too many lemons, I made sparkling lemonaide with the juice by using club sode instead of water. You can spike it with raspberries, strawberries, herbs?, etc.
I’m definitely making this!
Vickie
Thanks Vickie! The cat is a she. I live on club soda and always have it in the refrigerator. I’ll definitely be making some sparkling lemonade.
Just noticed I called it club sode – must be the Texas in me. 😛