Photo by Adobestock/gundrun
I’ve had limoncello that was thick and tasted of lemon candy. The recipe below is lighter and has a more pure lemon flavor.
But before we get to the recipe, a girlfriend who gardens in England wrote that she is overwhelmed with strawberries and asked what to do. (Poor dear!) I advised that she cut the berries in quarters into as big a jar as needed and cover with vodka.
When the berries are near white and the vodka is red, carefully strain out into bottles. Add a little simple syrup to taste. Put in the refrigerator and save for a gloomy winter day when a sip of sunshine will be most welcome.
I should also mention: Should you have an embarrassment of raspberries, you’ll want to do much the same as the strawberries: Rinse the berries gently and put into a bowl. Put on a nitrile glove and stick your hand in and just squoosh all the berries, in batches if you have a lot of them.
Keep squooshing until the berries are well broken, but don’t use the food processor. You’ll break seeds and that can be bitter — plus, you’ll never get it well strained at the end.
Put the berries into large jars, about 1/3 full, and top up with vodka. When the berries are near white and the vodka red, strain through a fine strainer into bottles. Add some simple syrup to taste — not too much!
Refrigerate until a gloomy winter’s evening. Dilute with a bit of seltzer or champagne, if you like, for a celebratory brunch. I’ve recently thought to try adding agave syrup instead of a cane sugar syrup. I think it will work well!
Limoncello Recipe
Makes 1 quart
Ingredients
- 2 lemons
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/5-size bottle of vodka
Directions
- Get a quart jar with lid.
- Peel 2 lemons. Put the peel in your mini food processor with about 1/4 cup of sugar and process to a paste.
- Put the peel paste into the jar, pour in your 1/5-size bottle of vodka (you don’t have to get an expensive bottle; with the peel and sugar, you can’t tell the difference).
- Give it a shake, let it infuse 3 or 4 days and strain out back into your vodka bottle that you cleverly saved.
Sip over ice, diluted a bit if you like.
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