There are a lot of recipes for making limoncello at home on the net. We have selected only the best drinks tested over the years, as well as cocktails and sweet dishes based on it.
Content:
Read also: Delicious pumpkin juice: What are its benefits and how to cook at home? (Photo & Video) +Reviews
History of vitamin liqueur
In Europe, this strong refreshing drink less popular than the famous Baileys, Benedictine, Chartreuse, Amaretto or Campari. But still, there is simply no Italian restaurant in the world where you would not be offered fragrant limoncello.
Rich assortment of Limocello
In the south of Italy, everyone will tell you the story of the birth of this drink. Only here it can be different. Some of the storytellers will assure that the limoncello liqueur is at least 2000 years old and it appeared during the Roman Empire. Someone will try to convince you that it was his ancestors who first came up with this healthy lemon drink.
In fact, in Campania, a region on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, peasants and fishermen have long been preparing this blood-warming liquor. Its industrial production began with the delivery to Sicily and Capri of a special lemon varieties Femminello with thick skin rich in fragrant oils.
ripe fruit
Realizing plentiful harvests was not easy. It was then that the Massa brothers decided to mass-produce a sweet lemon liqueur. Its first batch was released in 1991. This is how the famous brand Villa Massa was born.
Today, limoncello is produced mostly in the south of the country. It is also produced in the USA, in France and in Malta. The fragrant sunny drink continues to be prepared in many Italian homes. Moreover, in each locality it is made according to its own proprietary recipe.
Read also: Apple compote for the winter - 14 cult recipes! Tasty and healthy (Photo & Video) + Reviews Compound. Cooking method
Limoncello - strong liquor with spicy bitterness, prepared on the basis of lemon peel, wine alcohol, water and sugar. Depending on the brand, its strength can be 30-45%. Bright and odorous, having absorbed the aromas of citrus fruits, it is an excellent warming agent that can protect the body from colds in winter.
Since the liqueur is not heated during the preparation process, enzymes and vitamin C, which are involved in immunomodulation, are completely preserved in it. It also promotes the conversion of cholesterol into bile acids.
Lemon liqueur is not only tasty, but also extremely healthy.
Each manufacturer has its own recipe for limoncello, which is kept secret.It is only known that the peel of lemons collected in the Sicilian Islands or in Campagna is pre-soaked in wheat alcohol. Then, after adding water and sugar to obtain a homogeneous dispersed composition, the drink additionally undergoes an emulsification process.
Indeed, under normal conditions, it is impossible to mix essential oils with alcohol. There is also a less strong limoncello called Crema di Limoncello. The water in it is replaced with cream or full-fat milk.
We will also try to prepare this type of drink. There are other variations of limoncello on sale: with pistachios, melon or strawberry flavors, herbs, honey and even pepper.
Read also: Dried fruit compote: how and how much should it be cooked? You will find the answer in our article (Photo & Video) + Reviews
How and with what do they drink liquor?
Connoisseurs of the drink claim that it not only instantly warms even in severe frosts, but also improves digestion. It is served chilled in special high glasses covered with a thin layer of ice, or in small ceramic cups. Limoncello is often consumed in its pure form as a digestif - a drink served after lunch or dinner.
To reveal the taste, they drink it from small glasses in small sips, without eating. In extreme cases, you can eat a slice of lemon or not too sweet fruit.
Limoncello served in small glasses
It is undesirable to delay the process - it is necessary to drink the drink before heating the glass with your hands. Yes, and savor limoncello like wine, it makes no sense. After all, he is strong and sharp.
Limoncello is used to make cocktails, desserts and baking. It goes well with whipped cream and gelato - Italian ice cream. Add straw yellow flavored liqueur to jelly, creams for cakes, impregnate them with biscuits.
Read also: Harvesting Mushrooms for the winter - 15 delicious recipes: dried, pickled in jars, salted and other variations for every taste Classic recipe
In order for the finished drink to have a pronounced aroma and classic taste, you will need high-quality wine (food) alcohol with a strength of 96%. But getting it is not easy. It is rarely found in stores, and in pharmacies its sale without a prescription has long been banned. Yes, and according to the prescription, they will sell it to you only for injections of no more than 50 grams.
Limocello and pieces of zest
If you are fond of preparing alcoholic beverages, you can use moonshine purified from fusel impurities. However, the process of its preparation is quite laborious and time consuming. There is also a recipe for limoncello based on vodka (we will describe it below), but it will already differ from the classic one.
Let's describe the classic limoncello recipe. You only need a few ingredients and a little patience:
- alcohol - 500 ml (half a liter), preferably grape or wheat
- sugar 500 g (half a kilo)
- 10 medium ripe lemons
- water 650 ml
Properly prepared drink has a rich golden-straw color.
We describe the cooking process in detail:
- since commercially available lemons are often treated with chemicals for better preservation, brush the fruit with baking soda, then rinse with clean water and wipe each with a dry cloth
- to remove the wax that is often coated on fruits to prevent rotting, lemons are first soaked briefly in hot water
- we will need only lemon zest - a yellow crust, it must be cut very carefully, trying not to capture the white flesh, it is better with a paring knife
- finely grind the crusts, put them in a jar, fill with alcohol and close tightly with a lid
- leave the zest to infuse for 10 days; so that alcohol quickly draws out all the essential oils, shake the jar daily
- on day 11 we prepare sugar syrup: bring 650 ml of water to a boil, add sugar to it and boil again for a couple of minutes
- cool syrup to room temperature
- carefully filter the alcohol setting
- add it to the syrup, mix
- we bottle the resulting liquor and send it to a dark, cool place (in the refrigerator) for a week for final maturation
Preparations for the winter 🙂
- If necessary, the cooking time can be slightly reduced
- Leave the zest for 3-4 days, and reduce the ripening time of the liquor to a day
- Of course, the taste of liquor will be less pronounced.
- To enhance the taste, limoncello is kept in the freezer for several hours before serving.
- But it is not worth freezing it much to avoid loss of taste.
- It is also better to keep the glasses in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours so that they are covered with a thin layer of ice.
- You can add some ice to the liqueur itself
Read also: Cooking jelly at home: 20 delicious fruit recipes and blanks for the winter
Based on vodka with cinnamon
Finished lemon liqueur
The process of its preparation is similar to the previous one. But since it is more difficult to get a high-quality extract of lemon peels with vodka, we will enhance the taste by adding cinnamon. Such a drink can be taken as a digestif after a meal, made into cocktails, added to sweet dough or soaked in biscuits.
The only negative - limoncello can be a little more bitter - because its bitter components are water-soluble.
To prepare liquor, you need to take:
- half a liter of vodka (500 ml) without additives
- 5 pieces of medium-sized lemons (it is better to take Spanish, their peel is thicker, and the zest will turn out more)
- water 80 ml (since we replaced alcohol with vodka, it will need much less than in the previous recipe)
- sugar a little less than a glass (200 g)
- cinnamon teaspoon
Read also: How to grow tulips by March 8 at home? Planting, distillation, storage and other subtleties With cream and milk
A viscous and aromatic cream liqueur based on cream or milk is softer and has a lower strength of 16%. Since we use only the zest and not the flesh of the lemon to make limoncello, you should not be afraid that the milk will curdle. Moreover, we pre-boil it with sugar.
Prepare the following ingredients ahead of time:
- alcohol 0.5 l
- 7 medium sized lemons
- 0.5 l cream (it is better to take fatty 20%)
- 0.5 medium fat fresh milk (3.5%)
- 1 kg sugar
- a little vanilla
Lemon cream liqueur
- Pour the crushed zest with alcohol
- We insist it 10-15 days
- For a better extract of the zest, the infusion is periodically shaken.
- Pour cream and milk into one container, add sugar and vanillin on the tip of a knife, boil the mixture and cool
- Now we add filtered lemon alcohol and send the future liquor to infuse in the refrigerator for another 10 days
Read also: Lemon: description, care, growing from the stone at home, recipes for vitamin juice and lemonade (Photo & Video) + Reviews Russian lemon tincture
Lemon tincture
Lemon tincture is distinguished from limoncello by the presence of lemon juice - if the first drink is prepared on the basis of zest, then in this case not only zest is infused, but also the pulp of citrus fruit.
Limoncello is drunk after a meal, that is, it is a jestive. Russian lemon tincture can be attributed to aperitifs. It is taken to increase appetite before meals. It is not necessary to strongly cool the drink before drinking - its temperature should be 12-15 ° C.
To prepare Russian lemon tincture you will need:
- liter of 40-degree vodka (you can use high-quality purified moonshine)
- half a kilo of sugar
- 10 lemons
- water 400 ml (slightly more than 1.5 glasses)
The main stages of preparation:
- the zest is removed from all 10 lemons, we try to do this carefully, so as not to capture the bitter white pulp
- first, juice is squeezed using a citrus press or juicer from only 3 lemons
- it is necessary to prepare a syrup from water, sugar and juice: after boiling and removing the foam, it is boiled for 4-6 minutes, stirring
- cut the pulp of the remaining 7 lemons with a knife and pour vodka; add syrup here
- mix, close the container with a tight lid and send it to the mixture in the refrigerator for a week
- filter the finished tincture and pour it into glass bottles
Read also: Making homemade bread in a bread machine: 10 delicious recipes (Photo & Video) + Reviews Lemon Mint Tincture
Lemon Mint Tincture
You can also prepare the tincture without adding sugar. It is better to supplement such a recipe with mint - the taste of the drink will be more pronounced.
Preparing the ingredients:
- 1 liter of vodka
- mint 150-160 g
- 2 large lemons
Please note that this type of tincture is stronger - after all, we do not add water to it:
- peeling lemons
- chop the mint leaves with a knife (you can just tear it with your hands)
- pour the zest and mint with vodka and send it to the refrigerator to infuse for a couple of weeks
- do not forget to shake our drink daily
- after filtering the tincture through gauze or a sieve, she needs to stand in a dark place for another week
Read also: Hawthorn: description, its useful properties and contraindications, decoctions and tinctures (20 recipes), preparations for the winter Limoncello based cocktails
Italians prefer to use their national drink in its pure form, without mixing it with other ingredients. For women, a less strong liquor is simply prepared. But Europeans and Americans often make fragrant cocktails with a little bitterness based on limoncello.
Layered cremoncello with cream
This not too strong cocktail is more suitable for ladies. Preparing the ingredients:
- 30 ml chilled limoncello
- cold heavy cream 30 ml
Layered cremoncello with cream
- Cream and strongly chilled liquor are taken in equal quantities
- Limoncello is poured into the glass first.
- To obtain layers on top, trying not to shake, cream is introduced in a thin stream
- First add the liquor, and then over the cream
Stitles
Stitles
This female drink is prepared on the basis of lemon juice and honey. We will need:
- juice of half a lemon
- honey syrup
- lemon liqueur with a strength of not more than 30 °
- a couple of strawberries
- ice
All components are mixed in a shaker or blender. You can surprise your guest by serving a cocktail in a glass made from lemon. To do this, cut off the top of it and scoop out the pulp with a spoon. Decorate such an impromptu glass strawberries.
Lemon mulled wine
Hot mulled wine with the addition of limoncello is an excellent cold remedy. To prepare it, you need to take:
- lemon liqueur 40 ml (2 tablespoons)
- honey 1.5 tablespoons
- 300 ml (just over a glass) white wine
- 1 lemon and 1 orange each (we only need their zest)
- a few cardamom grains or a cinnamon stick for a tangy, savory flavor.
Lemon mulled wine with cinnamon
- Finely grind the lemon and orange zest, mix it with liquor, wine and honey
- We throw cardamom seeds into it and heat the mixture
Lemon margarita
If you mix fragrant liqueur with tequila and add a little orange juice and lime juice, you get a very fragrant and strong drink.
We will need:
- slice of lemon
- ice
- tequila 30 ml
- 20 ml each of lemon liqueur, orange juice and lime juice.
Lemon margarita
- All ingredients are mixed in a shaker and then poured into glasses.
- Add ice and lemon wedge to cocktail.
All right
The cocktail has a slightly more complex composition and is more suitable for special occasions. Neat layers of colored liqueurs and gin look extraordinarily attractive in a glass. This drink is perfect for a romantic evening.
It can also be used for pouring ice cream or as an additive to cake cream.
Ingredients:
- 30 g each of gin, limoncello and blackcurrant liqueur
- ice
- ground black pepper
Cocktail with blackcurrant liqueur
- First, limoncello is mixed with pepper
- Gin and blackcurrant liqueur are mixed separately
- We take a cocktail spoon in our hands and gently start the second mixture on top of the limoncello
We put a stack on a saucer and put a sprig of berries on it blackcurrant and a slice of lemon
48 drops
Cocktail 48 drops
- Ice is added to a shaker (you can also use a regular blender), and then in equal proportions of 30-50 ml of sherry, limoncello and vodka
- After driving, the mixture is filtered, poured into glasses
- You can decorate a cocktail and add an orange note to it with the help of a twist - a fruit peel twisted into a spiral
- If you can’t get a neat spiral, the peel can be wrapped around a cocktail tube, fastened with toothpicks for a while and briefly dipped in ice water
frosty afternoon
- We bring to your attention a strong and fragrant cocktail for men.
- To prepare it, mix in a blender or shaker 50 g of vodka and 30 g of limoncello
- Add mint (a couple of leaves are enough)
- Pour the resulting cocktail into glasses and decorate on top with a slice of lime
- Such a drink can warm even on frosty days.
Corvette
A strong drink based on two types of liquor and cognac. Preparing the ingredients:
- a little lemon zest
- 30 ml of cognac and lemon syrup
- 20 ml Cointreau liqueur
- slightly less (15 ml) limoncello liqueur
Cognac-lemon cocktail
After whipping the cocktail in a shaker, decorate the glass with lemon zest.
citrus mix
You can prepare a fragrant cocktail with limoncello with the addition of lime and orange juice.
We will need:
- 50 g liqueur
- 150 g freshly squeezed orange juice
- a little (up to 20 g) lime juice
citrus mix
- First, ice is poured into the glass, then limoncello and both types of juice are added in layers.
Limoncello with white wine
Limoncello with white wine
- You can use any light wine - sparkling, table, or champagne
- It is better to take dry or semi-dry. After all, limoncello is a rather sweet drink.
- The recipe is simple
- It is mixed with wine in equal proportions.
- The ingredients must be chilled before adding to the cocktail.
- You can decorate glasses with berries and mint
lemon champagne
You can prepare such a festive cocktail in a matter of minutes.
For this we take:
- 125g (1/4 cup) limoncello
- zest of 1 medium sized lemon
- 2 spoons of sugar
- some fresh mint leaves
lemon champagne
- Beat the listed components for a couple of seconds in a blender
- To decorate the edges of the glasses, dip in lemon juice and sugar.
- Divide the whipped mixture and ice among 2 glasses and carefully top up with chilled champagne
sparkling cocktail
This drink is also prepared on the basis of champagne. But its composition is more complex. In addition to lemon liqueur, we need orange orangecello.
So, we take:
- 30 ml of lemon and orange liqueurs
- 30 ml champagne
- twist - a spiral of lemon peel
- ice
Champagne cocktail
- Shake the liqueurs with ice in a shaker or blender.
- Pour the mixture into glasses. Gently add champagne on top.
- Decorate the cocktail with a twist or a berry.
Berry cocktail and champagne
You can use any berries - raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc. But the mint leaves that we will add to the drink are ideally combined with raspberries.
So, to prepare this light female drink, we take:
- 90 ml good champagne
- 30 ml limoncello
- a couple of mint leaves
- sugar syrup optional
- a few raspberries
Berry cocktail and champagne
- Berries need to be thrown in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- While it is freezing, mix the mint with champagne and pour lemon liqueur into the cocktail.
- Stir the mixture again.
- Decorate the drink with berries.
Read also: 15 cranberry recipes (tinctures, vodka, alcohol, fruit drink, etc.) prepared at home, as well as how to freeze and store it properly Dessert dishes with lemon liqueur
There are many recipes for desserts based on lemon liqueur. We offer you to use the most popular and proven recipes.
Lemon pie
Limoncello in this recipe is added not only to the dough, but also to the icing. To prepare a biscuit you will need:
- 250 g sour cream (standard glass)
- sugar 160 g (3/4 cup)
- vegetable oil 60 g (3 tablespoons)
- 2 eggs
- a little vanilla
- medium sized lemon zest
- limoncello 60 g (3 tablespoons)
- baking powder 2 teaspoons
- flour 2 cups
- salt half a teaspoon
For the glaze you will need to take:
- a glass of powdered sugar
- lemon liqueur 60-80 g
- a little zest for garnish
Lemon pie with icing
- To prepare the text with a mixer, beat the liquid ingredients and sugar
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt
- Gently combine both mixtures and mix until smooth.
- Lubricate the baking dish with oil, pour the dough there and send it for 40 minutes to the oven, heated to 180 ° C
- Drizzle cooled cupcake with icing
- To do this, you just need to mix powdered sugar with liquor so that you get a homogeneous mass.
- Decorate the cake with grated zest
Almond Lemon Cookies
Almond Lemon Cookies
Peeled almonds give the dessert a nutty flavor, and limoncello - an indescribable aroma and spicy taste. We only do not forget that such a dish is quite high in calories, and it is often not worth abusing it.
Ingredients:
- sugar 200-250 g
- half a kilo of almonds
- 10 ml almond extract
- eggs 3 pieces (we will take only protein, the remaining yolks can be used to make meringues, scrambled eggs or shortbread cookies)
- a pinch of salt
- lemon liqueur 40 g
Cooking steps:
- beat in cold proteins with sugar; to make them whip up faster, add a little salt
- grind the almonds into small crumbs, leaving a handful for decoration
- mix nuts with almond extract; add sugar and some salt
- Pour in the beaten egg whites and gently, trying not to crush, mix
- make small balls out of dough
- grease the palms with lemon liqueur and grease the cookies with it
- lay it out on a sheet and press each with the palm of your hand, making it flat
- put 1 nut in the center of the cookie
- we send the dessert to the oven heated to 160 ° C
- bake until golden brown
Tiramisu with berries and limoncella
Cooking the famous Italian dessert with a light lemon flavor does not take much time. After all, we will use ready-made Savoyardi cookies.
Required Ingredients:
- half a kilo of mascarpone
- ready-made biscuit cookies (its quantity is up to you)
- 30% cream 100 ml
- half a lemon
- juice of 2 oranges
- 50 g (2 heaping tablespoons) powdered sugar
- vanillin
- lemon liqueur limoncello
Tiramisu with berries and liqueur
- First, lay out the cookies in a silicone or other suitable form.
- With a dessert spoon, carefully pour over it with liqueur and orange juice
- Whip cream with vanilla, powdered sugar and finely chopped zest with a whisk or mixer
- We spread the mass on cookies and send the finished tiramisu to the refrigerator for 1-2 hours
- Decorate with any berries before serving.
- Can be sprinkled with grated chocolate
Lemon caramel sauce for pancakes or pancakes
To taste, it resembles toffee with a slight sourness. To prepare it, you need to take:
- 3 tablespoons squeezed lemon juice with a citrus press or juicer
- glass of sugar
- butter 35 gr.(a couple of tablespoons without a slide)
- Limoncello liqueur 20 ml
Fritters with aromatic sauce
- Cook sauce over medium heat, stirring constantly, until dark caramel.
- To do this, mix sugar and 1/4 cup of water and send the mixture to a saucepan
- The remaining ingredients are added to the sauce removed from the heat, but still hot.
- Serve it warm.
lemon mousse
The delicate taste of this dessert will surely appeal to guests and family members. It is better to serve it with cookies, but you can eat it without anything - just with a spoon from a glass or a bowl.
- 40-60 ml limoncello
- 300 g cream: in order to be able to whip them, it is necessary to take sufficiently fatty (from 35%) cream
- 100-150 g powdered sugar to taste
- juice of 1 lemon
- 120 g lemon cream made from lemon juice, eggs and butter with added sugar
- 200-250 g mascarpone
Lemon mousse garnished with zest
- We start preparing the mousse with whipping cream
- When they thicken enough, gradually add powdered sugar to them, then mascarpone and lemon cream.
- Pour lemon juice and liqueur last.
- If the mousse seems unsweetened to you, you can add more powder
- We lay out the dessert in portioned bowls and send it to the refrigerator for an hour or two.
Lemon jelly with limoncella
lemon jelly
Quail eggs in this recipe can be replaced with regular chicken. So the ingredients are:
- sugar 150 g
- 2-3 lemons
- 18 quail or 4 chicken eggs
- fat 30% cream 250 g (glass)
- 50 g limoncello
- water 150 ml
- pack of gelatin 10 g
The main stages of preparation:
- sugar 150 g
- 2-3 lemons
- 18 quail or 4 chicken eggs
- fat 30% cream 250 g (glass)
- 50 g limoncello
- water 150 ml
- pack of gelatin 10 g
Italian Gennaro Contaldo offers his own recipe for the perfect limoncello
Making limoncello at home: TOP-5 recipes (using vodka, moonshine and others) + 13 cocktails and 6 desserts (Photo & Video) + Reviews
