We’re currently dreaming of going back to Capri, Italy where you sip on fresh limoncello at one of their famous beach clubs.
While we can’t galavant across Italy right now, we’re bringing limoncello to our home (and yours).
What is limoncello?
Limoncello is a traditional Italian liquor simply made with lemon peels, sugar, water, and a clear spirit such as vodka.
We love the sweet, yet tart taste of this sipping alcohol.
How do you make limoncello?
Traditional limoncello takes 4 weeks to make.
Lemon peels are steeped in a clear spirit until the lemon oil and yellow color is released, flavoring the liquor.
Then a simple syrup is added to sweeten the limoncello.
We found a way to make limoncello in less time, using a sous vide.
How to make sugar free limoncello
The two issues with a traditional homemade limoncello recipe is that it has too much sugar, and you need to age it for 4 weeks before drinking it.
We’ve solved both of those issues with this recipe!
We’ve been able to completely eliminate all sugar in our limoncello recipe using our favorite natural sweetener, Purecane.
We’ve been obsessed with replacing sugar with Purecane in some of our favorite new recipes like our healthy banana bread and our perfect skinny margarita.
Making a homemade limoncello without sugar was a challenge we were excited to test.
Purecane is truly the best sweetener replacement for sugar when it comes to flavor, but what takes it over the top is the fact that it has zero carbs, zero calories, it’s gluten free, and it has no GMOs.
Sous vide limoncello
We also solved the 4 week limoncello wait time by using our sous vide to drastically speed up the weeks-long timeline to merely a few hours.
With a sous vide you can go through this “aging” process in 3 hours by keeping your containers at a constant 135 degree fahrenheit heat.
If you don’t have a sous vide, simply leave the lemon peel and alcohol mixture in a jar on your counter for 4 weeks.
Once you take your containers out of the sous vide, or after 4 weeks the traditional way, your limoncello will magically have the perfect yellow lemon color, and it’s ready for the Purecane sweetener infusion.
Before adding in your Purecane syrup, complete a little limoncello strain by removing the zest peels while you prepare your simple syrup.
Make a simple syrup with a 1:1 ratio of sweetener to water and bring it to a quick boil.
The sweetener should be combined with the water and you can start sweetening your limoncello to your preference.
We liked adding ¾ cup to our total limoncello batch but feel free to add more or less based on your taste.
How do you drink limoncello
Once your simple syrup is added, your limoncello is complete.
Store your limoncello in the freezer to bring out the flavors.
While in Capri, aka the home of limoncello, we would purchase limoncello streetside to sip as an aperitif before dinner or would also enjoy a small glass after dinner as a digestif.
Limoncello lemon drop martinis are also a popular way to drink this special liquor.
Our sous vide limoncello recipe ingredients:
- 3/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup Purecane Sweetener
- 6 lemon, peeled
- 1 ¼ cups of vodka
- Set your sous vide to 135 degrees fahrenheit.
- Wash all of your lemons thoroughly under warm water.
- Peels the skin off of 6 lemons, and try to get as little of the lemon pith as possible because it will make the limoncello more bitter.
- Place the lemon peels into three mini mason jars or one large mason jar and fill with vodka.
- Seal the mini mason jars and place in the sous vide water bath for 3 hours.
- Remove the jars from the water bath. While the jars are starting to cool make your Purecane simple syrup by boiling the water
- When the water is boiling mix in the Purecane and stir till its dissolved, remove from heat.
- Open each individual jar and filter out the excess lemon rinds.
- Sweeten the limoncello to taste with your Purecane simple syrup, we preferred 4 tablespoons per mini mason jar, or ¾ of a cup total.
- Chill each mini mason jar in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
- Shake or stir before drinking as some natural separation may occur.
Cheers to the unique taste of Italy without any of the extra calories from sugar!
(Feel free to sip your limoncello while reading about our travels to Rome, Cinque Terre, and Capri).
Sugar Free Limoncello
Yield: 12 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
All the flavor of limoncello without the sugary guilt! Make this recipe in a sous vide in 3 hours or 4 weeks the traditional way.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup Purecane Sweetener
- 6 lemon, peeled
- 1 ¼ cups of vodka
Instructions
- Set your sous vide to 135 degrees fahrenheit.
- Wash all of your lemons thoroughly under warm water.
- Peels the skin off of 6 lemons, and try to get as little of the lemon pith as possible because it will make the limoncello more bitter.
- Place the lemon peels into three mini mason jars or one large mason jar and fill with vodka.
- Seal the mini mason jars and place in the sous vide water bath for 3 hours.
- Remove the jars from the water bath. While the jars are starting to cool make your Purecane simple syrup by boiling the water
- When the water is boiling mix in the Purecane and stir till its dissolved, remove from heat.
- Open each individual jar and filter out the excess lemon rinds.
- Sweeten the limoncello to taste with your Purecane simple syrup, we preferred 4 tablespoons per mini mason jar, or ¾ of a cup total.
- Chill each mini mason jar in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
- Shake or stir before drinking as some natural separation may occur.
Notes
Be sure to store the limoncello in the freezer as it is best served cold.
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This homemade sugar-free limoncello recipe was sponsored by Purecane, but the opinions and our feelings are completely our own. Thanks for supporting the products we love.
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