Pecan Pie Truffles
Tara Parker-Pope, “VegNews Holiday Cookie Collection”
3458 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,458
About 30 minutes, plus 2 hours' freezing
Limoncello Once Removed
- Total Time
- 5 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1¾liters of Everclear, or other strong or overproof spirit
- 18lemons, whole, well washed, preferably organic
- superfine or white sugar
- food-grade cheesecloth, rinsed and wrung out
- strong butcher’s twine
- large sealable glass vessel or urn, with lid.
Preparation
- Step 1
Pour the spirit into the well-cleaned urn. Drape the cheesecloth in crossing swaths, making sure to gauge the length so that once the weight of the lemons is pending, they cannot reach the spirit. Bind the cheesecloth tightly in place on the outside edge of the urn with the butcher’s twine, wrapping it under a lip to make certain it is well held. Place the lemons into their hammock and cap the whole with the lid. If the lid has a plastic or rubber gasket, you may wish to remove it, lest it leach any off-flavors into the mix. Store in a stable environment out of sunlight for nine weeks. Given variables like temperature and humidity, your limoncello may be ready before then. Warmer climates will speed up the process. Avoid opening the jar, as it will set the curing process back, but do pay attention to the color of the mix; you want it rich with a kind of varnished yellow, but it can actually go too far, overextracting into a brown color with an intensity that can be too much for some people’s taste.
- Step 2
At the end of the aging period you should have roughly 1 4/10 liters of unsweetened lemon spirit at roughly 60 percent alcohol by volume, or 120 proof. Make a simple syrup of ½ liter water and the same of sugar. When dissolved fully, add to the lemon spirit and mix well. Taste for strength, balance and sweetness and adjust water for dilution and/or sugar if necessary. Be cautious not to drown the lemon’s bite and aromatics with too much sugar, but also bear in mind that if you’re serving your limoncello from the freezer, you will perceive slightly less sweetness in the frozen mixture.
Tip
- For more precisely diluting down to taste, you can purchase a spirit hydrometer, a device like a small floating thermometer or fishing bobber, which tells you the proof or percentage of alcohol in a solution, for as little as $7 to $10 at most brewing or winemaking supply stores. You would be looking to keep the final limoncello at about 40 percent, or 80 proof.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Bob Castro Valley CA
How in the heck does one suspend 18 lemons inside a glass jar? Must be a pretty big glass jar, no? I note that the photo illustration shows only one lemon. Without an explanation, I had to look elsewhere for my lemoncello recipe.
KJ
Giuliano Bugialli's original recipe started with 2 C grain alcohol and 2 lemons - far easier to find a vessel to fit. Start small. I've made it many times; it yields a very smooth limoncello. The "fumes" from the alcohol dissolve the essence of the lemon. It's very forgiving: the first batch I made sat for nearly five months, and was delightful. Experiment with small glass bottles, adjusting the sweetness and potency to your own taste. Keep notes of what you prefer.
Brendan
Do you have any recommendations for an appropriate "large sealable glass vessel or urn, with lid?" The photo has the one vessel with the single lemon so I'm deliberating batches in smaller containers but I think I'd prefer a large single urn.
Jenwren
I make limoncello every year and zest l6 lemons and use quality vodka. The longer you age it the better (45 days and then another 45 after adding simple syrup).
Scott Center
This was a big fail for me. I was able to procure a bunch of giant jars and put maybe two to three in each one. The way I read the recipe it calls for 18 in one jar. You would need to get one of those jars that they use at the Army Hospital museum in Washington that they display amputated legs in. My limoncello came out after a few months tasting just like sugared grain alcohol. I think it would have been better if it had a leg in it.
Domenic
Interesting take, but much simpler to zest lemons (BTW I recommend organic, as they are not waxed and will not have pesticide residue), steep in alcohol (as little as four days, I went two weeks) then strain and mix with syrup to taste (I aimed for 28% result)
Cathleen Rocco
This makes no sense - if the lemon isn't submerged, how does it flavor the spirits? Does the lemon rot, and then ooze into the booze?
Emma
Any thoughts on making this with grapefruit? We have a great tree and could be good perhaps?
Sonder
The photo is a jar from IKEA a couple of years ago, although they seem to have replaced it with the DROPPAR line now. IKEA also has larger cookie-jar sized containers that would work for the whole batch.
Ryck Birch
With a sharp vegetable peeler, shave off the zest of 10 lemons (a good base amount and more will certainly deepen the flavor depending on how long you steep everything). Put the peels in a Mason jar able to handle the 1.75 liters of Everclear you will add to the peels in the jar. Close it up and let it steep. For how long... 30 days is good. More zest yields decently lemony alcohol faster, everything else is up to your taste and patience. When ready to your taste, mix with simple syrup (1:1)
Scott Center
This was a big fail for me. I was able to procure a bunch of giant jars and put maybe two to three in each one. The way I read the recipe it calls for 18 in one jar. You would need to get one of those jars that they use at the Army Hospital museum in Washington that they display amputated legs in. My limoncello came out after a few months tasting just like sugared grain alcohol. I think it would have been better if it had a leg in it.
Ryck Birch
With a sharp vegetable peeler, shave off the zest of 10 lemons (a good base amount and more will certainly deepen the flavor depending on how long you steep everything). Put the peels in a Mason jar able to handle the 1.75 liters of Everclear you will add to the peels in the jar. Close it up and let it steep. For how long... 30 days is good. More zest yields decently lemony alcohol faster, everything else is up to your taste and patience. When ready to your taste, mix with simple syrup (1:1)
Scott
Did not work for me
Dan
18 lemons... May I ask what "urn" can contain 18 lemons? I doubt even a gallon will do...?
Scott Center
At the Army Hospital Museum in DC they display amputated legs in jars that I beleive would be appropriate for this recipe.
Scott
This did not work for me. Not enough lemon flavor or color.
Koko The Talking Ape
I don't believe suspending the lemons in cheesecloth is the best idea. The cloth will interfere with the lid's seal, and allow alcohol to evaporate off. Better to support the lemons from underneath somehow, perhaps with a steamer insert or a narrow glass jar, open end up (so it doesn't isolate any alcohol from the lemon vapors.)
lucy
I used 2C premium vodka and five lemons, which I kept suspended for six months in a dark and quite cold cellar. The result before simple sugar is probably too aromatic (six months, after all), but it’s fine — certainly better than most commercial limoncello. I made the simple sugar with golden castor sugar, which is neither fine nor white— but it gave the limoncello a more yellow cast that I otherwise didn’t achieve. Figuring out the right amount of sugar is a bit tricky. Will make again!
lucy
Since when is zesting lemons easier than suspending them in an urn? I hate zesting lemons! The bits go everywhere and I inevitably grate some of my skin. If anyone has a workaround please tell me. In the meantime I will try the suspension technique.
Ellen Tabor
Use a vegetable peeler, not a zester.
August J
Anyone care to recommend a suitable container for this recipe - what the directions call an "urn"?
PRich
What if I accidentally added the simple syrup up front? Help!
Emma
Any thoughts on making this with grapefruit? We have a great tree and could be good perhaps?
KJ
Giuliano Bugialli's original recipe started with 2 C grain alcohol and 2 lemons - far easier to find a vessel to fit. Start small. I've made it many times; it yields a very smooth limoncello. The "fumes" from the alcohol dissolve the essence of the lemon. It's very forgiving: the first batch I made sat for nearly five months, and was delightful. Experiment with small glass bottles, adjusting the sweetness and potency to your own taste. Keep notes of what you prefer.
Jenwren
I make limoncello every year and zest l6 lemons and use quality vodka. The longer you age it the better (45 days and then another 45 after adding simple syrup).
Domenic
Interesting take, but much simpler to zest lemons (BTW I recommend organic, as they are not waxed and will not have pesticide residue), steep in alcohol (as little as four days, I went two weeks) then strain and mix with syrup to taste (I aimed for 28% result)
Cathleen Rocco
This makes no sense - if the lemon isn't submerged, how does it flavor the spirits? Does the lemon rot, and then ooze into the booze?
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