Limoncello Dreams (our favorite limoncello recipes)... Inspired by Limonoro in Sorrento

Sorrento, living a dream...

Nothing beats a frosty glass of homemade Limoncello.  Except... perhaps a glass of creamy Limoncello served by the maker in Sorrento.

Sorrento, October 2011

Sorrento, with its stunning vistas, bustling Piazzas, quintessential Italian window box lined streets, and lemons at every corner is a true Limoncello mecca.  Small bottles of the brilliant yellow liquid sold in adorable, must have little bottles line many of the tourist store fronts, but it was in the Limonoro shop located on Via San Cesareo, in Sorrento, where we thought we had died and gone to heaven.

With lemon aromas drifting through the front door one can not help but to step inside where one is greeted with an even headier aroma of lemon.  A smiling Italian man wanders over with a bottle of Lemon Cream (Limoncello with cream) and offers a sample.  Thinking, "Well... I don't really care for creamy drinks, but ok, I'll give it a shot", I accept the small sample and sniff before taking a sip.  While the nose was wonderful, the taste was out of this world!  Smooth and bright with lemon flavors, I was immediately sold as was my husband.

Limonoro Limoncello... how do you pick just one??

Luggage restrictions being a slight problem (I admit that it may have been me who had already done a bit too much shopping at this point in our Italian voyage...) we chose a few small bottles of the addictive Lemon Cream while picking up bars of Limoncello infused chocolates (why didn't I get more?), Lemon infused olive oil, frosted "Made in Sorrento" Limoncello glasses and other assorted souvenirs.

Though cracking the Lemon Cream bottle was sorely tempting as we returned to our ship, we thankfully resisted temptation and brought our precious bottle home.  Making a wonderful Thanksgiving treat, the chilled bottle was served at dessert for our holiday meal having everyone, including my "I don't like anything with alcohol" Mom asking for a smidge more and having all of us head to bed with dreams of Sorrento as visions of lemons swirled in our heads. 

Sufficiently inspired and sufficiently supplied with a grocery bag filled with lemons from my dad's tree, my husband was up early two days ago with peeler in hand.  Some 25 lemons peeled and placed in our Limoncello jar, he had vodka pour over the peels in no time and our own version of Limoncello is currently steeping in the pantry and will be ready for holiday gift giving and baking.

Lemon Peels steeping in Vodka

Within less than 24 hours the vodka already had a brilliant yellow hue and the wonderful bright aroma of lemon.  While my husband's recipe stays fairly constant, the steeping time is open for discussion.  Our original Limoncello post from March of this year has his directions somewhat vague to "allow the mixture to rest for several weeks".

Here is where you can easily adjust the recipe time to suit yourself and your time constraints, we have seen recipes with "resting" times from as short as 5 days stretching to the "several weeks" that my husband uses.  I believe that most of the flavor and oils will be released from the lemon peels within the first 8 - 10 days and the lemon infused vodka will ready to be turned into the tempting Limoncello we love.

Limoncello is a wonderful homemade holiday gift and can be packaged in cute little Limoncello Bottles which can be found at World Market and Crate and Barrel.  Package a small bottle with a bag of homemade Limoncello Biscotti or a tasty, bursting with flavor Limoncello Lemon Cake and you are assured gushed over gift giving status.

Mr Liv Life's Limoncello Recipe

Limoncello Lemon Cake

Limoncello Biscotti

Limoncello Lemon Cheesecake Squares

And while we didn't use Limoncello in the following recipes, Lemons are indeed the star and I'm thinking a dash of Limoncello wouldn't hurt a bit:

Lemon Lime Gelato

Tuscan Lemon Muffins (bonus poem by Liv!)

Glazed Lemon Buttermilk Cake

White Bean Salad with Lemon Vinagrette

Lemon Drop Jell-O Shots

Join us for the next stop on our itinerary, Taormina...