Limoncello

By commercecook

Limoncello is made from just four ingredients - lemon peel, alcohol, sugar and water. Choose ripe organic lemons, bottled water and organic sugar. It isn't important to measure everything exactly. If you want it sweeter, add more sugar. If you have more lemons, go ahead and add extra peels. The alcohol used is Everclear - a 151 proof neutral grain spirit that is the perfect base.

Ingredients

• 13 organic lemons
• 1 bottle of Everclear
• 3 1/2 cups bottled or filtered water
• 1 1/4 cups organic sugar

Preparation

Step 1

1.Wash and rinse 13 lemons thoroughly to remove all pesticides and wax.
2. Using a vegetable peeler, peel lemons, taking care to remove only the yellow rind, not the bitter-tasting white pith. Remove all pith using a sharp knife.
3. Juice lemons and freeze the juice for another use. I freeze it in ice cube trays using 1 tablespoon per cube space.
4. Place the peels in a wide-mouth 1/2 gallon jar and cover with a bottle of Everclear. Tightly close lid.
5. Let sit in a cool, dark place for three weeks to a month, shaking the jar once or twice a week. I kept mine in the basement.
6. Bring about 3 1/2 cups bottled or filtered water to a boil. Add about 1 1/4 cups of organic sugar and stir. Reduce heat and continue to stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
7. While simple syrup is cooling, strain lemon peels from the alcohol with a fine mesh strainer. Press down to capture all the liquid.
8. Add alcohol to simple syrup and stir. Pour into a strong glass bottle with a narrow neck and let sit for 1 week in refrigerator before using. Afterwards, store in freezer.
NOTE) This was not sweet enough for me, so I made some additional simple syrup and added it until it was sweet enough for me.