Limoncello

07 Friday Aug 2020

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italia, Recipes

Tags

Campania, Homemade liqueur, Limoncello, Southern Italy

Quando la vita ti da limoni…fai il limoncello! When life gives you lemons…make limoncello! This is a good motto for life. I usually make homemade limoncello or other infused liqueurs with vodka, as 90% grain alcohol is not available in Canada. With the hand sanitizer shortage 3 years ago at the beginning of the pandemic, my fratello was able to order 151 proof (71%) Everclear grain alcohol to make his own. When hand sanitizer was available again, he had an extra bottle, so I used it to make limoncello. It is not the 191 proof (90%) alcohol that liqueurs are usually made with-but close enough, and definitely better than using vodka.

Limoncello (lee·mohn·CHEL·loh) is an Italian liqueur, made mostly in Southern Italy, especially in the Amalfi/Sorrento area where the limoni are large and fragrant. It is usually served chilled as an after dinner digestivo. I use it in many of my desserts too!

To make limoncello, you need 1L (4 cups) of grain alcohol and 8-10 organic lemons. Limoncello is made only with the scorza, or lemon peel, so the lemons must be untreated. I used the juice to make limonata.

Peel lemons with a vegetable or potato peeler, taking only the peel, not the pith (the white stuff). If a bit of pith snuck in there, scrape it off with a knife

Place the lemon peels in a large airtight glass jar. I used a 2L jar that used to hold artichokes, rinsing it out with vinegar and soap to remove any smell.

Cover lemon peels with alcohol and leave the jar to steep in a dark cool place for 2 weeks or more. A cantina is ideal if you have one. Give the jar a good shake every few days. When the peels are very pale, almost white, it is done. The liquid will be a gorgeous golden colour.

Mix 750 ml-1L (3-4 cups) water with 500 ml (2 cups) sugar in a saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, then let the syrup cool.

Strain lemon peels from the alcohol and add cooled syrup. It will be a cloudy yellow once the lemon essential oils and water mix together. If using vodka instead of grain alcohol, use less syrup. Shake the jar and leave it in the cantina or a cold, dark place for 1-2 weeks. Then ladle into small bottles with pop-tops or secure tops and leave for 1 more week to intensify the lemon flavour.

Il limoncello è pronto. Salute!

Posts with recipes using limoncello:

Limoncello Cheesecake

Limoncello Ricotta Cookies

Olive oil Limoncello Cake

Ciao, Cristina

(originally posted in August 2020, and somehow was accidentally deleted!)

Limoncello Ricotta Cookies

19 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Italian food, Limoncello, Limoncello ricotta cookies, Traditional recipes

Last week I had a bancarella at the Italian summer outdoor market. I like to bring dolci for friends who come to visit, or anyone who stops by to chat. Buy a card… get a cookie. It was an unusually hot day, and my espresso cookies would melt and make a mess all over the place, so I made refreshing, sweet and tangy limoncello ricotta cookies. Limoncello and ricotta are 2 of my favourite ingredients.

When I was growing up, our Abruzzesi neighbours often made these soft cakey cookies-minus the limoncello. They used Anice (ah·Nee·cheh), a liqueur similar to Sambuca, and topped them with multi-coloured sprinkles. The ricotta makes them soft, moist and chewy. If fresh is not available***, make your own ricotta!

Limoncello Ricotta Cookies:

350g flour (2½ cups)

5 g salt (1 tsp)

8g Pane degli Angeli (½ bustina/envelope, 2 teaspoons) *

100 g olive oil (½ cup) **

400 g sugar (2 cups)

2 eggs

450 g fresh ricotta (1 lb)

30g limoncello (30 ml, 2 tablespoons)

15 g freshly squeezed lemon juice (15 ml, 1 tablespoon)

Grated peel of 1 lemon

Glaze: same as for Casa Berti Olive Oil Limoncello Cake

200 g (1½ cups) powdered sugar/icing sugar

30g limoncello (30ml, 2 tablespoons)

15g freshly squeezed lemon juice (15 ml, 1 tablespoon)

Grated peel of 1 organic lemon

Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F)

Mix the 3 dry ingredients together. In another bowl, mix sugar and grated lemon peel together with the back of a spoon until the sugar becomes fragrant. Add eggs, 1 at a time. Add oil, then ricotta and limoncello. Stir in dry ingredients.

The dough is quite sticky. Use 2 tablespoons or a small cookie scoop to measure the dough onto a cookie sheet. The dough may be easier to work with if it is left in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes, being careful not to burn the edges. Let cool.

To make glaze, mix the all ingredients except lemon peel in a small bowl until smooth. If it is too thick and sticky, add more limoncello or lemon juice. Add lemon peel last. Use a teaspoon to spread glaze onto each cookie. Leave glaze to harden and set for 1-2 hours.

Makes 40-60 cookies, depending on the size. Store in a covered container.

* If Pane degli Angeli is not available, substitute 2 tsp baking powder and a tiny splash of vanilla extract

**if you prefer to use 125g unsalted butter (½ cup), mix the sugar and butter together first with a mixer, then add eggs one at a time, followed by the other ingredients

***Cottage cheese is NOT an appropriate substitute for ricotta!

Friends and customers often tell me I should be selling the cookies. I am not sure how to take that. Are they trying to tell me my baking is more appealing than my artwork? Hmmmm, I had better not overthink this one!

If you love limoncello and ricotta as much as I do, check out some of my other posts: Make your own Limoncello, Limoncello Cheesecake, Casa Berti Olive Oil Limoncello Cake, Ricotta fatta in casa, Tortelloni di Ricotta.

Olive Oil Limoncello Cake

25 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

Casa Berti, Catalyst Art Retreat, Cucina Italiana, Dolci, Gugliano, Italian food, Limoncello, Lucca, Olive oil harvest, Olive oil limoncello cake

In November I attended an art retreat, surrounded by 900 olive trees! It was at Casa Berti near Gugliano, about 40 minutes outside of Lucca. There were also lemon trees in giant terra cotta pots on the terrace, not yet ready to be moved into the limonaia for the winter. Many of the lemons become limoncello. I was so inspired and distracted by the olive trees that I took several breaks from art making to pick olives. I could not help it-they were calling to me! Every day or two, when there were enough picked, they would be taken to the frantoio or olive press and then return to Casa Berti as lush, fragrant oil. Green gold as a friend calls it. The Casa Berti cucina had a stainless steel bidone full of new oil with a little spout for pouring.

Being surrounded by olives, freshly pressed oil, fresh lemons and limoncello, I had the urge to make an olive oil limoncello cake. I have been making this cake for years, but I did not have the recipe with me. I also left my art making to bake just when Ben, the owner of Casa Berti, had gone on another run to the frantoio with olives. I searched the kitchen but could not find any measuring utensils or a scale, so the measurements were all a big guess. ??? Luckily I knew where the limoncello was!

The cake came out better than usual, probably due to the quality and freshness of the ingredients. I usually just dust it simply with zucchero in polvere-icing sugar. For a fancier look, make a limoncello glaze with icing sugar and limoncello. The cake is also nice with fresh fruit, especially raspberries or blueberries. It goes equally well with a cup of espresso or a glass of limoncello and is also very easy to make-you don’t even need a mixer-just a wooden spoon and a whisk. I adjusted some of the amounts to the recipe based on the Casa Berti cake, but if your measurements are not exact, non ti preoccupare, it will probably still taste good!

Casa Berti

Casa Berti Olive Oil Limoncello Cake

400g (~3 cups) flour

200g (almost 1 cup) sugar

4 medium sized eggs or 3 large eggs

160ml (~ ¾ cup) extra virgin olive oil

130 ml (~½ cup) milk

60 ml (¼ cup, 4 tablespoons) limoncello

Grated zest/peel of 2 organic lemons

16g packet Pane degli Angeli (or 15 ml/1 tablespoon baking powder)

Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F)
Butter and flour a 23 cm (9 inch) pan
In a small bowl, add the lemon peel to the sugar and mix with fingers or the back of a spoon until they are well mixed and the sugar looks damp
Whisk the eggs and add the sugar/peel mixture
Add the olive oil, milk and limoncello
Add flour a bit at a time and stir with a wooden spoon just until the flour is mixed in. Do not over mix
Add Pane degli Angeli
Spoon into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. Be careful not to overbake or it may come out dry
Cool and dust with icing sugar
For a fancier topping, make a limoncello glaze with 1 cup icing sugar and 30 ml (2 tablespoons) limoncello. If it is too dry, add another 15 ml (1 tablespoon) limoncello or milk. Mix together and drizzle onto cake.

For a post on how to make your own limoncello, click Limoncello. Buon appetito, Cristina

Limoncello Cheesecake

16 Monday May 2016

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

Baking, Dolci, Gluten-free baking, Limoncello, Limoncello cheesecake

Limoncello tastes like summer in a glass. What could be even more refreshing than a nice cold glass of Limoncello? Limoncello Cheesecake of course! I’ve been making it for years and every time I am asked for the recipe, so I thought I would simplify things and share it here on my blog. The coconut crust makes it taste even more summery! I like to add a small amount of lime juice too, but you could just add more Limoncello. This cheesecake tastes better if made a day ahead of time so it spends more time in the fridge. If you are looking for cream cheese in Italia, it’s known as ‘Philadelphia’, pronounced Fee•la•del•FEE•ah. Buon Appetito!

Cristina’s Limoncello Cheesecake

Crust:

150 g (2 cups) unsweetened coconut
30 ml (2 tbsp) sugar
30 ml (2 tbsp) melted butter
5 ml (1 tsp) grated lemon rind

Filling:

750g (3 x 250g packages) cream cheese
210 g (1 cup) sugar
4 eggs at room temperature
1 tsp grated lemon rind
15 ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice
15 ml (1 tbsp) lime juice
15 ml (1 tbsp) Limoncello (or reduce the juices to add more Limoncello)
Pinch of salt

Topping:

2 eggs @ room temp
160 g (¾ cup) sugar
10 ml (2 tsp) coarsely grated lemon and lime rinds
30 ml (2 tbsp) lemon juice
30 ml (2 tbsp) lime juice
30 ml (2 tbsp) butter
30 ml (2 tbsp) Limoncello
Shredded coconut and citrus rinds for garnish

Crust-Preheat oven to 180° C (350 ° F). Combine ingredients and press onto bottom of 22-25 cm (9-10 inch) springform pan. Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly toasted. Be careful not to burn the coconut.

Filling–Blend cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, then eggs, one at a time. Add juices, rinds, salt and Limoncello. Make sure there are no lumps and pour over toasted crust, smoothing the top. Bake at 180° C (350° F) for 45 minutes or until set. Turn off the oven and leave cheesecake in for another 10 minutes. Open the door and let cheesecake cool in the oven for another 10-15 minutes. This will prevent the cheesecake from ‘falling’ or cracking all over the surface. Run a knife around the rim of the pan and continue to cool at room temperature, then chill in refrigerator.

Topping-Whisk eggs until foamy. Combine with sugar, juices, rinds and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and thick. Remove from heat and add Limoncello. Let cool and then spread over cheesecake while the springform pan is still attached. Garnish top with coconut and coarsely grated lemon and lime zest. Return to refrigerator for at least a few hours. Serves 12-16 people.