Grapefruit-cello
Homemade Grapefruit Limoncello (Grapefruit-cello) is a delicious Italian liquor perfect for an edible gift! Filled with grapefruit citrus flavor in a sweet and strong cordial. Great for sipping or in an alcoholic cocktail for summer.
Servings: 6 cups (approximately 1.5 liters)
Calories: 625kcal
Equipment
- Large Container jar, pitcher, etc
- Measuring Cups
Ingredients
- 6 large grapefruits (try to get ones with lots of color)
- 375 ml vodka unflavored
- 375 ml everclear (or you can sub for more vodka)
- 1 ½ cups sugar (see note)
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Wash your grapefruits. Using a duller peeler, peel just the top layer of the skin off the grapefruits. Avoid peeling off any of the white pit as much as you can. The white parts will make it bitter.
- Place the peels in a large, 1 gallon glass jar that has a lid. Pour the vodka and everclear into the peels.
- Place the lid on the jar and let it sit for at least one week, up to four weeks. Keep it out of direct sunlight.
- When this step is complete, make the sugar water. Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Let the sugar water cool to room temperature.
- When cool, add the sugar water to the peel mixture in the gallon jar. Cover and let it sit for at least another week.
- After it sits for a week, strain out all of the peels and bits that are in the liquid. Funnel the grapefruit-cello into the glass bottles with stoppers. Store in the freezer. The grapefruit-cello can be served straight or as part of a mixed drink. Taste the grapefruit-cello so that you know how strong that batch is based upon how much sugar water you use.
Notes
For a strong batch, use 1 cup sugar and 1 1/3 cups water.
For a weak and sweet batch, use 2 cups sugar and 2.5 cups water.
The final volume will vary slightly with the “angel’s share” effect where some sugar liquid may evaporate as it sits based on container used.
Juice your grapefruits to use for other recipes, or freeze juice for the future!
This limoncello has a long shelf life but tastes best within two years.
You can steep either step as long as you wish, it will not affect the final product negatively if you go longer.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup (8 ounces) | Calories: 625kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 450mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 73g | Vitamin A: 3818IU | Vitamin C: 104mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 0.3mg
