For those of you who decided to make Limoncello with us, the time has come to remove it from its deep slumber and perform the next steps to produce your own sweet, refreshing, porch-sippin’, summer-lovin’, happy, lemon liqueur. If you did not start your own Limoncello in January, you can get started now by reading Part 1. This recipe takes 80 days so you will still have your Limoncello ready to sip during the hottest days of summer.

This recipe is a bit less sweet and more “lemony” than some. If you have made it before, you will notice we removed some of the sugar. It will still be plenty sweet.

What you will need for this step:
3 1/2 cups water
3 cups sugar
1 750 ml bottle 100 proof vodka

What to do:
1) Boil the water in a sauce pan.
2) Add the sugar and stir until dissolved, making a simple syrup.
3) Cool the syrup to room temperature.
4) Put your nose near the top of your container of lemons and vodka that you prepared in Part 1. Remove the lid and inhale deeply with your eyes closed while dreaming of warm sun on your face. ahhhhh…
5) Pour in the simple syrup and the additional bottle of vodka.
6) Stir with a wooden spoon.
7) Replace the lid and put the Limoncello back into hibernation for another 40 days.

I have talked to a number of people who have started their Limoncello. In early April, we will all indulge in the first sip both reveling in the fruits of our labor and rewarding ourselves for our patience. We will strain the Limoncello, bottle it and stash it in the freezer for warm spring and summer evenings on the porch.

I hate creating waste so after completing Part 1, when we found ourselves with almost a dozen “skinless” lemons, I found many ways to use the lemon juice. If you are just starting your Limoncello and have some lemons to squeeze, here are some ideas from Eva at The Golden Shrimp. And, although I have not made them yet for fear of total addiction, these lemon yogurt fritters from Molly at Orangette look sinfully delicious.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 26th, 2007 at 11:17 pm and is filed under Drinks & Appetizers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.