Limoncello Penisola Sorrentina

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 7 large lemons, untreated, preferably unripe
• 1 liter of schnapps, alcohol (94 – 96%), from the pharmacy
• 1 orange(s), untreated, preferably unripe
• 2 cm cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 1 liter of water
• 500 g sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Rest period approx. 20 days 20 hours; Total time approx. 20 days 20 hours 40 minutes

Recipe from an old lady in Nerano

Pour the alcohol into a tightly sealed glass container and add the peels of the 7 lemons, as thinly as possible and without much of the white part. Seal and let it steep for a total of 20 days, stirring occasionally (circling). On the 17th of the 20 days, add the orange peel, the crumbled cinnamon stick, and the cloves, and let it steep for another 3 days. On the 20th day, heat the water with the sugar until it is completely dissolved. Then let it cool completely (the alcohol evaporates with heat). Mix the now yellow alcohol with the cold sugar water, stir, and you have a milky-yellow liquid (comes from the oils in the citrus peels). Filter this (in Nerano they even do this through cotton wool) and pour into pretty little bottles. It takes at least 4 weeks before this delicacy is ready to be enjoyed. If you can wait longer, the liqueur will gradually become mellower. You can tell this by the liquid becoming increasingly clear at the bottom.