Crema Di Limoncello Liquor ( Cremoncello Recipe )

So, having married into an Italian family it was just a matter of time for them to initiate me into their culture rituals, share secret family recipes that are passed-on for generations, and I also have a very sweet tooth for Italian treats.

Italians love their wine as we all know, but they also enjoy a little liquor with every special occasion.

My wife's oldest brother (Franco) invited us for dinner a little while a go and he served us this citrus, creamy, liquor called "Cremoncello", or otherwise known as "Crema Di Limone" (it translate to "Cream Of Lemon").

It was so refreshing and delicious at the same time; this liquor is a variation of another traditional liquor known as "Limoncello".

Limoncello is a Lemon infused liquor, infused with the peel of a lemon without the pith, and not the juice.

The difference between the "Cremoncello" and the "Limoncello" is that the Cremoncello has dairy added to it, to make it thick and creamy.

Surprisingly making either one of these two liquors it's not difficult at all; you just need the right tools for it, and some patience since the infusing part takes about a week plus the cooking time.

Now, like any traditional recipe, there are several variations for this liquor. 

Some of them are sweeter, some are less stronger than others, and some are not so thick in texture.

Alright, enough blah, blah blah! let's get to it and make this wonderful potion for the soul.

For this particular recipe we are going to use the following ingredients:

(Don't go by the picture amount since I end up making a larger batch, but the process is the same)

• 8 Organic Meyer Lemons (Peel only/no pith)
• 1 Lt. of Grain alcohol (can be substituted with Vodka)  
• 2 Lt. of Homo milk (3.25% whole milk) 
• 2 Kg. Berry Sugar
• 4 Pkts. of Vanilla sugar powder (Most Italian grocery stores carry this product)

Tools required to make this recipe:

• Zester (you can buy them at any grocery store, where all the kitchen gadgets are)
• Glass jar (big enough to hold the liquid while infuses) 
• Wooden spoon (to stir the liquid)
• Sauce pan, or pot (big enough to hold the liquid, but with some extra room)
• Fine mesh strainer (or cheese-cloth)  
• Funnel (for when you bottle it)

Rinse your lemons under cold water, and wipe them dry with a paper towel to remove any dirt (don't use soap or scrub them since you are using an organic Lemon)

Using the zester, hold the lemon firmly with one hand; with the other hand use the zerter to remove the peel 

by holding the zester on a 45 degree and applying some pressure against the lemon while sliding it down from one end of the lemon to the other end.

You should get long sticks of peel as shown on the picture below; notice that there is no pith (white stuff) 

attached to the peel. (It's fine if there's a little tiny bit, but the white stuff is bitter and will ruin your flavor)

After you have zested  all your lemons, open the bottles of alcohol and pour them into the glass jar. 

Mix the lemon peel with the alcohol, and seal it with a piece of plastic wrap (saran-wrap) in order to prevent the alcohol from evaporating and preventing oxygen to enter, and to avoid anything from contaminating it.
(I usually pock a couple of tiny holes on the plastic using a tooth-pick to release some air build-up created by the zest when it releases its natural oils and is curing inside the alcohol.

Allow the mixture to sit-in (infuse) for 7 days, but do stir it a bit after the 3rd day and cover it again.
Keep this mixture in a cold place away from kids, and/or any pets (secure it).



Once the mixture is properly infused; remove the peel by simply running the mixture through a super fine mesh strainer, or  pass it through a cheese-cloth. Basically you don't want any peel on your mixture.
Notice the super bright yellow color of the mixture, and how whitish the peels are; that's a good sign that the mixture will have a nice aroma from the lemon peel and will enhance the flavor.



Time to do some cooking now; gather all your ingredients and set your stove-top at a medium heat.



Combine the milk, sugar, and the pure vanilla powder inside the stock-pot and dissolve all the ingredients.
You will notice that the mixture will become thick in texture; that is normal...you're basically making a syrup.

You want to scald the milk mixture for a bit, while steering it periodically so that it doesn't stick or burn.
When it begins to boil, lower the heat and allow it to barely boil for about 3 more minutes while constantly stirring the mixture and then remove the mixture off the stove top. Cool down the mixture to room temp.
I use the kitchen sink filled half-way up with cold water to speed up the process.
Insert the pot inside the sink, but make sure you don't get any water into the mixture.
Stir the mixture around using a wooden spoon from time to time until the mixture is at room temperature.



Take your infused liquid and combine it with the cooled-creamy mixture that you just did, and stir for a bit.
The color of your mixture once is combined with the infused alcohol will be a whitish yellow tone.

Here's my brother in-law filling up some bottles (Yes! those are the empty bottles of the grain alcohol used)



We also end up buying some fancy resealable bottles (swing-tops) from a US company based out of Seattle, and we had them shipped to Canada via ground service.
The bottle company (See link: Specialty Bottles) has a tone of different sizes, colors, and shapes available.
After the bottles are filled, you MUST keep them inside a freezer, or cooler (Not Kept In Room Temp), and its served cold on little shot glasses as a dessert liquor, or as an aperitif with a bit of ice on a rock glass.



These bottles make a great gift for any especial occasion, and you could make labels for them too ...Salute!

Thank you for visiting this blog :)

Alex Castaneda