Lemons = limoncello

What's not to like about lemons? Their vibrant colour and sharp taste are the perfect addition to anything and everything from a humble glass of water to a Middle-Eastern inspired dish.

Stock photo

My lemon tree has finally decided to grace me with fruit, and bloody good fruit it is too. Here's the downside; there was only 4 of them. Yes, 4 decent sized lemons was all that was deemed worthy this year. Lemons can be tricky to grow in our patch of Eden, we have a mild to hot summers and heavy frost in Winter which is not conducive to lemon growing. I never remember to fling a frost cloth over the lemon on frosty nights but it is happily ensconced in the greenhouse where hopefully it will flourish and become prolific.

I put the call out in the local community for some lemons as I wanted to have a crack at limoncello. Limoncello is  an Italian liqueur, traditionally hailing from the Amalfi Coast. Its supposed to made from St Teresa lemons (who knew there were such a thing) and grain alcohol - specifically vodka.

The idea is to peel the skin from the lemons without peeling off any of the white pith. The peel is then steeped in vodka from anywhere from 48 hours to a couple of months. You then make a sugar syrup and mix it together and serve chilled in cold glasses. What could be better?

Update: May 14 - my limoncello has been brewing for one week. It's very "vodka-ry" with a hint of lemon. I would like that to be reversed

Wash your lemons, these were straight from a tree so there was no wax on them but I am not sure if they had been sprayed or not.

Carefully peel the lemons, taking care to avoid getting any white pith - this makes the limoncello bitter

Pour at least a litre of good quality vodka (best you can afford) over the peel.Put
in a cool dark place and let it do its thing. I'm leaving mine for 4 weeks.