Lemon Digestif Recipe
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Like an alcoholic Lemonhead, our take on limoncello is both tart and sweet, and is a nice finish to a big meal.
What to buy: We chose Everclear 151 grain alcohol to use in our digestifs; it picks up the flavoring elements much faster than vodka.
This recipe was featured as part of our Make Your Own Digestifs project.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 medium lemons
- 2 cups grain alcohol, such as Everclear 151
- 1 1/2 cups Rich Simple Syrup
INSTRUCTIONS
- Using a vegetable peeler, remove lemon peel in wide strips, making sure to avoid the white pith.
- Place peels in a 1-quart glass jar with a tightfitting lid, add alcohol, cover, and let steep undisturbed at room temperature for 6 days.
- After 6 days, remove peels and add simple syrup. Stir to combine. Store in the freezer.
You can dilute the alcohol content by using more simple syrup but the end result will be sweeter. I make limoncello every year as a Christmas gift. My Italian friends get the stronger version made with Everclear and the sweeter simple syrup (2:1 sugar:water ratio). We keep the lighter version made with vodka and thinner simple syrup (1:1 sugar:water ratio).
would it be a bad idea to add rum to this?
The traditional way to serve this is after dinner, sometimes with an esspresso. It is usually served ice cold in small liquor glasses, that can also be kept in the freezer. Keeping it in the freezer is just for taste. You can get some nice small bootles at places like Cost Plus or Pier One Imports, 375-500 ml.
Hmmm...so I think I used the wrong kind of Everclear, completely new to this and don't have a clue about alcohol...what happens if I get something stronger? More syrup? Please help.
does this have to be stored in the freezer? will it go bad at room temperature? how long can it be kept? sorry for all the questions. just trying to figure out the logistics of giving these as gifts.
I am making this for the first time. Once you store it in the freezer, how is it served and what is a serving amount? Do I add anything else too it or serve it over ice?
I'm in the process of making clementine and lemon digestif. They are on day three and they are the most gorgeous orange and yellow colors. I'm using Everclear - a little scary, so we'll see. I also just made simple syrup for the lemon one and instead of water I used fresh squeezed lemon juice. It turned out GREAT. I guess it's really lemon syrup, but I wanted my digestifs a little more fruity. I'm going to try the same with the clementine, but I'm sure I will have to adjust the sugar since the sugar content in the clementines is higher.
I think these are ALL absolutely wonderful mixed with club soda, tonic or sparkling water. They are a digestif and the bubbles help with bringing up the stomach gasses. Anyone who drinks beer knows the true relief and resulting pleasure of a deep, from the belly, beer burp. These are similar to that, without the hops repeater ~ Sláinte Mhath
StripperingGormet: go to Oregon. It's legal there (that's what we did).
Living in Washington State, unless you have a very special permit, you cannot purchase so-called "industrial alcohol" like Everclear 151. So, any suggestion to substitutes, please?
I doubled the recipe (2 bottles of Polish grain alcohol and a dozen Meyer lemons) which made 8 pint jars of the stuff to give away as gifts. The grain alcohol and lemon peels steeped for about a month. When I added the simple syrup, the liquid in the jars was bright yellow.
How many bottles should this recipe fill? Or put another way, what size bottle should I look for if I want to make this for gifts? "Small" is a bit subjective... I'm unsure what that really means, but am interested in trying this recipe. :)
Thanks, I guess I'll have to wait for the next holiday...
I have a limoncello recipe on my flog -- www.scottjosephorlando.com -- under Chef Recipe category. I, too, use Everclear (ABC sells a house brand of grain alcohol that's find to use), but I use the whole bottle.
Two days steeping won't be nearly enough time, Blind Mind. My recipe calls for two weeks minimum. Worth the wait. Find some small bottles to give it as Christmas gifts.
Scott
If I were to make this today, what would the results be like if I chose to drink on Thanksgiving? (2 days steeping)
We recently made lemoncello and we used half everclear/half vodka and we stored it for 40 days.
We then tripple filtered the the liqud using paper coffee filters. It removed all of the silt.
We then mixed in the simple syrup solution.
It came out very good.
Another (lemon) twist on simple syrup is to make like you're candying lemon peels and:
-blanch them 3 times by putting peels in boiling water for a few minutes, pouring out the water, and repeating a couple of more times.
-adding equal parts sugar and water (usually 1 cup and 1 cup) to the lemon and leaving it in until the lemon peels start to look clear
By that point it will be pretty syrupy.
Let the peels dry overnight then roll them in sugar, dip in chocolate, or just refrigerate them.
You can use the syrup for the booze and will be even more lemony than regular old simple syrup.
MetroHound, my peels ended up dissolving when I left them in some everclear for a few weeks. I don't know if it's safe to drink but I'm assuming the alcohol wouldn't let anything bad grow ;) If you never hear back from me, well that will be your answer.
never tried the stuff. sounds tasty. I am just curious, why remove the peels, why not just leave them in
wow, that was fast. Thanks.
gourmandadventurer, MplsM ary, and klaus, thanks for the questions and comments. We have adjusted the headnote and recipe language for clarity. Thanks!
Do you steep this at room temp, in the refrigerator, or in the freezer?
I think you mean "remove lemon peel in wide strips," not thick.
Any difference between this and limoncello?