How to make the refreshing Crema di Limoncello Recipe
Discover this hidden gem from Sorrento, Italy! I discovered the existence of this alcoholic drink while I was in Sorrento, Italy. Lemon trees grow everywhere in Sorrento so the locals figured out how to make a drink out of it. Now you can buy Limoncello in your local supermarket’s liquor section but it is not the same! You can’t buy Crema di Limoncello in the grocery store. Make this recipe to see why it’s served in Sorrento!
How do you make Crema di Limoncello?
- Peel the rind off of 10 lemons using a vegetable peeler
- Place the rinds of the 10 lemons into a large 78oz lock lid storage glass container
- Add 740 ml of Everclear grained alcohol to the gallon sized mason glass jar
- Close the lid and store in a dark cool place for at least 6 weeks
- In a large sauce pan, add 8 cups of whole milk, 5 cups of sugar and one vanilla bean over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved
- Cool the sugar-milk to room temperature
- Remove the vanilla bean, wash and store for another use
- Strain the lemon peels from the grain alcohol mixture.
- Throw away the lemon peels.
- Add the cooled sugar milk to the lemon infused grained alcohol and stir to mix
- Use a funnel to pour the mixture into 3 one liter bottles with wire bail swing top
- Place the bottles filled with Crema di Limoncello into the freezer to store
- Enjoy a glass of Crema di Limoncello after a meal!
What is Limoncello?
Limoncello is the clear yellow mixture while Crema di Limoncello is more white. That’s because the Limoncello is mixed with sugar-milk while Limoncello is mixed with sugar water.
It is served after the dinner and bill in Sorrento, Italy.
The recipe is simple to make but the time to wait is where you need patience!
Gathering the Materials you need to make the best Limoncello
picking the lemons
This is the most important! Pick the most fragrant ones. This is important as these lemon peels give flavor to your alcohol as they sit for weeks. You will want to remove the wax before starting.
The alcohol
It is has to be a grain based alcohol. I use Everclear.
A large jar
- A Gallon Mason Jar with lid: This one is for storing and then combining the sugar-milk and yellow alcohol.
- A 48 oz Mason Jar with lid: This one is for storing only. You will need another contain to combine the sugar-milk and the yellow alcohol
bottles to store
- 1 Liter bottles: You will need 3. You can keep these in your freezer or give as gifts
- 8 oz bottles: These are the PERFECT size for gift giving. You can make the whole batch to give away.
- A mixture of the 2: Two 1 Liter bottles and four 8 oz bottles.
cheesecloth
Sometimes the sugar milk will have lots of film which you don’t want in your Limoncello. Straining your sugar-milk through the cheesecloth will prevent that!
Vanilla bean
Vanilla beans go a long way so they are worth money. I make my own vanilla extract with them. I keep some and then gift it to others. You will need 1 Vanilla bean. Buy a bunch and use them for other things or bum one off a friend.
funnel
I use funnels any time I am pouring something into a small hole. It is so much easier to use a funnel when doing this!
The glasses
In Sorrento, after your meal and check, the waiter will bring you limoncello. Sometimes it is Crema di Limoncello. It was brought in a small 2 oz shot glass like this:
Crema di Limoncello
Experience Sorrento, Italy as you sip on this refreshing drink after a meal. This is an easy drink to make but takes
Ingredients
- 10 lemons that smell good
- 1 -740 ml bottle of Everclear or grain alcohol
- 8 C. whole milk
- 5 C. sugar
- 1 vanilla bean
- 3- 1 Liter bottles with lids
- 1 large glass container with a lid: 48 oz or Gallon size
- Cheesecloth
Instructions
- Using a peeler, peel the lemon thinly as to just take off the yellow skin leaving the white.
- Pour the grain alcohol into the large glass container with the lid.
- Add the lemon rinds
- Let sit in a cool, dark place for at least 6 weeks. It should be very yellow when ready.
- After the lemons have sat for at least 6 weeks, it's time to make the drink.
- In a large sauce pan, warm the milk, sugar and vanilla bean over medium heat.
- Stir frequently until the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove the pan from heat and let cool to room temperature
- Remove and wash the vanilla bean for the next use or throw away.
- Using a strainer to seperate the lemon peels and the grain alcohol
- Place cheese cloth around the large glass container containing the limoncello concentrate with a rubber band.
- Use a ladel to pour the cooled sugar milk through the cheese cloth.
- Stir the ingredients together.
- Using a funnel, pour the finished mixture into the 1 liter bottles.
- Store it in the freezer.
- Enjoy after a meal.
Notes
Discover this hidden gem from Sorrento, Italy! I discovered the existence of this alcoholic drink while I was in Sorrento, Italy. Lemon trees grow everywhere in Sorrento so the locals figured out how to make a drink out of it. Now you can buy Limoncello in your local supermarket's liquor section but it is not the same! You can't buy Crema di Limoncello in the grocery store. Make this recipe to see why it's served in Sorrento!
Once the drink is cold, it's ready to enjoy! Pour into small 2 oz shot glasses.
Let me know if make this drink and how you like! You can also give a review in the recipe portion.
Here are my posts from Sorrento, Italy: