Saturday, September 30, 2017

Home Made Limoncello

I haven't been on here for a while, but that's because I've been busily working away on a few other projects which have to do with the upcoming markets at Murarrie State School.

And it's been really hot lately, and so, I've also been making the most of the hot weather too... airing out the house, doing all the laundry and doing as much as I can outside in the garden. 

It's been nice - except the day I went to Thorneside and was attacked by midges all over! OMG! It was horrible. I've still got huge bites all over my legs and some on my arms which drive me nuts at night. I am finding it hard to sleep though; even though the ones on my kneecaps aren't so bad since I've gotten the poison out of those last night.

Otherwise, I've been making Limoncello... for those who know what this delicious stuff is, you'll be wanting to know how to make it. Well, I have a recipe I've dug up on the internet and I'm hoping it works out - as I've yet to bottle it and chill it for 2 weeks.

Ingredients:

13 lemons
1 large bottle big enough for over 2 litres of liquid
1 bottle Vodka 40 proof (not 80 or it'll crystalise and the bottle will rupture in the freezer; and you'll be scraping Limoncello off your freezer walls for months).
1 litre water
2 cups of sugar (raw sugar is fine, but it'll turn the syrup brown).
Sanitising solution - can be purchased at home brew stores for around $7.00
Bottles for Limoncello - can be purchased at home brew stores for around $3.50 but only in plastic. I have found they don't have glass bottles for this kind of thing anymore.
Wooden palate knife - keep it separate from the rest of your cookware and label it to save on cross-contamination.

Method:

Take the peel only off the lemons - without the pith. The pith is the white stuff on a lemon and makes the peal taste sour. If you're finding this hard, use a lemon zester, or a grater... but with the grater, you only need to rub the lemon once and you'll have the zest you need off the lemon. 

Put the lemon zest and vodka into the large bottle, and put the lid on - make sure it's an air-tight lid - and leave the jar/bottle in a cool place away from the sun. 

Stir it once a day, for a week.

On the seventh day, get large saucepan and put in the one litre of water and two cups of sugar and heat until the sugar has melted away. If you're using raw sugar, the syrup will turn brown. Don't worry, that's the molasses in the sugar. I've read that it won't affect the outcome of the Limoncello; just the colour.

Turn off the heat and leave the syrup off to one side for an hour to let cool and funnel it into the vodka/lemon peel jar/bottle. Put the lid back on and leave it alone for five more days. 

A day or two before bottling, clean the bottles you're going to use and ready them for the Limoncello. 

Separate the peel from the vodka/syrup. Sieve it through food muslin 3 times before you ladle the limoncello into the bottles then chill for 2 weeks before serving. Keep chilled.

I've yet to bottle and chill mine... so I can't tell you what it tastes like. I've used raw sugar in mine, so it's gone brown from the molasses in the sugar. I'm not worried about this, it'll have a different colour and maybe a different taste to the other type of Limoncello I've seen around the place. I'm hoping it turns out okay... I hope it does.

If not? Well, I've learned something about how to make Limoncello. If it has a great taste, but is brown, and yet my Mum still loves it, I'll mark it down as my own style and keep making it this way... who knows? I may yet still refine this recipe and tweak it more to make it better; as there's so many different ways of making it too.

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