Limoncello

By Hklbrries

There is just one problem with making homemade liqueurs to give as holiday gifts: Your concoctions just may be so good – so much better than what you'd buy at the store – that you'll have trouble parting with even a drop.

So, do yourself and those on your gift list a favor: Make a double batch and there will be plenty to go around.

Nearly every flavor of liqueur you could find at a liquor store – and even some you can't – can be whipped up in your home kitchen. Think Kahlua and Irish cream and amaretto. Hazelnut and anisette. And orange and lemon and cranberry, too.

"It's creative and fun and you have the advantage of saying, 'I made this myself,' " says cookbook author Cheryl Long. "It's very rewarding."

Plus, she says, "They just make great gifts."

And homemade liqueurs are sometimes two-thirds the price of commercially prepared ones.

Long, who lives near Grant's Pass, Ore., is co-author of "Classic Liqueurs: The Art of Making & Cooking with Liqueurs." She's been making liqueurs and developing recipes for them since the 1980s.

Many of the recipes take several months to age, so you might want to consider them for next year's gift-giving. (Or give the not-quite-finished products this year, with instructions on how long to let them rest before drinking.)


But some liqueurs can be imbibed right away.

Spokane resident Theresa Curran, owner of the Something Else Deli, makes a rich coffee liqueur similar to Kahlua that can be consumed as soon as it's made. She's been making the recipe for several years, giving some away as gifts and saving some for drizzling over ice cream or mixing with a little half-and-half.

"We always have a stash of that around," she says.

The full-flavored recipe was passed along to Curran from her sister-in-law, who got it from a friend. It calls for seven cups of brewed espresso, which is made extra-strong by pouring the brewed coffee through dry coffee grounds.

"It's got more flavor," she says. "It's a really rich flavor."

Bob Ketcham, owner of Jim's Home Brew in Spokane, has taught liqueur-making classes with the city's Parks and Recreation Department for the past four years. Often, the winemakers and brewers who frequent his store take an interest in liqueurs as an extension of their hobby, he says.

Ketcham's store sells flavorings that can be added to alcohol to make liqueurs. And he also sells a variety of glass bottles, priced at less than a dollar each or up to $4, in which to put homemade liqueurs. You'll also need some large glass jars or containers (like quart-sized mason jars) in which to age your liqueurs.

Ketcham says liqueur-making isn't that hard as long as you follow a good recipe from a trusted source. In the interest of food safety, liqueurs should be kept at about 20 percent alcohol to avoid spoilage, he says. Equipment should be well-washed. And the finished product should be kept in glass, not plastic, containers.

"Alcohol acts as a solvent and can dissolve the finish," he says.

Special care should be taken when making fruit liqueurs, Long says.

"You don't want to use spoiled fruit," she says. "That will not make a good liqueur. Use good quality and fresh type of fruit. Wash them well; you don't want pesticides."

When it comes to the base for your liqueurs, most recipes call for either pure grain alcohol or vodka.

When it comes to vodka for liqueur-making, there's no need to break the bank, Long says.

"Use a medium quality," she says. Better-quality vodka, though, will make the liqueur drinkable more quickly than a lesser one, she says.

Once you've got your stash of high-quality homemade liqueurs, there's no need to keep them reserved for the bar. Bring them in your kitchen for a variety of recipes.

"They just taste darn good, and they're fun to cook with," Long says.

Ingredients

• 12 lemons
• 2 (750-ml bottles) 100 proof vodka, divided
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Remove the yellow part of the lemon peel with a sharp peeler or grater, taking care to avoid the butter-white pith. If you shave off any pith, use a sharp knife to scrape it away.

Put the peels in a jar or bottle, add 1 bottle vodka and seal tightly. Leave the mixture to steep until the peels lose their color, at least two weeks.

Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and boil until it turns clear. Let the syrup cool.

Strain the vodka to remove peels and mix it with remaining bottle of vodka and the syrup. Put the liqueur in bottles, seal tightly and let age for at least a week before serving. Store in freezer.

Nutrition Information:
Per serving
77 calories
0 g fat
0 g protein
5 g carbohydrates
0 g cholesterol
0 g dietary fibe
0 g sodium