Limoncello

Limoncello

Delicious lemon-based liquor that you can make from home (please ignore if you are not comfortable with liquors). This is my husband's grandmothers recipe: please use the best quality lemons you can buy. Obviously, Italian would be best. I understand that pure alcohol can be difficult to find so you could sub it with the best quality vodka, but the result will not be the same.

Ingredients for 1 litre:

1. 2 large or 3 smaller lemons

2. 300 ml pure alcohol

3. Glass bottle 1 litre

4. 700 ml water

5. 300 g sugar

Method:

1. Sterilise bottle by boiling in water for at least 15 minutes. Carefully remove and set a side.

2. Wash and dry lemons well. Peel. Tear up skin into small pieces.

3. Put lemon skin pieces (just the skin pieces) into bottle and add alcohol - this is your limoncello-to-be i.e. the base of the liquor you are preparing.

4. Seal well with lid, shake and leave in fridge for 3 weeks.

5. Give a shake EVERY day!

6. After 3 weeks, bring 700 ml of water to the boil.

7. Add 300 g of sugar and simmer for 2 to 3 mins to dissolve. It should make a syrup. Leave to cool completely.

8. Meanwhile, using a large jug and 2-3 pieces of kitchen paper, start to drain the liquor with the lemon skin pieces into a separate container. Squeeze as much limoncello-to-be out as you can, discarding the lemon skin pieces.

9. Now wash and sterilise bottle again ready for the final part.

10. Add the limoncello-to-be to the bottle and gently add the syrup.

11. Add the lid and screw tight. Shake and leave in the fridge.

12. It should stay in the fridge for at least one month. Shake EVERY day.

13. Your limoncello is finally ready!