Limoncello is the quintessential homemade gift for Christmas! And now you can buy certified synthetic pesticide free lemons from Florida to make your own delicious limoncello. It gets better! Why not buy your lemons now in time to zest for lemon cello, and juice the remaining fruit for fresh lemonade. What a treat for young and old alike! Camellia Groves is offering our lemons through the remainder of the year for your cooking delight. Sign up for our newsletters so you will know when our next Local Harvest event is scheduled.
Ingredients:
2 fifth bottles Everclear grain alcohol
2 fifth bottles Potato Vodka
Sugar syrup ( equal parts sugar and
24 10/12 ounce spring loaded capped bottles(Amazon)
Approximately 12 premium lemons, or 5 pounds
2 1- quart ball jars
A few notes.
Your limiting factor is lemons. Purchasing organic or pesticide- free lemons is essential because you are using the skin only. So, plan to juice the fruit afterwards and enjoy fresh lemonade or a cocktail such as Lemon Drop Martinis or Fresh Whiskey Sours. Or maybe a Lemon Mocktail! We have recipes for all on our blog here.
You may contact us by email to inquire about current availability, or plan to attend a U-Pick when scheduled.
To start, using a fine peeler, fill approximately 2 1-quart ball jars with the skin. Peel away only the yellow skin of the lemon(flavedo) and limit the amount of white(albedo) you cut off. This is a good reason to use Florida lemons which have much less albedo.
Working diligently with a peeler, remove the skin and put it plus 1 bottle of Everclear grain alcohol to fill each jar.
So, approximately 5 pounds of lemons in 2 quart jars will use 2 fifth bottles of Everclear. This will be mixed with 2 fifths of potato vodka. But, for 3 weeks keep peel mixture under tight lid in refrigeration or cool temperature to preserve the color. Shake from time to time.
When all the yellow oil has been extracted from the peel, you are ready to make the limoncello.
You will need a gallon of sugar syrup, cooled to room temperature. Strain lemon mixture and pour into a large container. Add equal parts (2 fifths of potato vodka) and stir. Then, slowly add cooled gallon of sugar syrup. Mixture should appear cloudy.
If you have a funnel, use it to pour limoncello into bottles, cap, rinse and store in freezer. Labels should be applied before chilling. Makes approximately 20-22 bottles.
Enjoy!
Check out more recipes and lemon fun on Instagram @lemonsandsuch