Limoncello recipe

Go Italian and sip this lemony liqueur after dinner, or use it for cocktails or puds

Susy Atkins: "How many drinks are this mouthwatering yet powerful, fresh-tasting yet long-lived? Or, indeed, packed with tangy acidity, yet syrupy and thick – and are sipped after dinner as a digestif? At least, that’s how they drink limoncello in southern Italy, especially along the Amalfi coast and in Sicily. Much as I’d like to be there right now, raising a glass, you can conjure up the same intensely lemony liqueur at home very easily indeed."

Makes 1.8 litres (3 pints)

Keeps for years

• 5 ripe lemons, plus 1 for decorating finished bottles
• 1 litre vodka (unflavoured)
• 750g sugar
• 700ml boiling water

1. Pare the rind thinly from the lemons, taking care to avoid the white pith. Divide the rind between 2 large, clean glass jars – 1 litre (1¾-pint) kilner jars are perfect.

2. Pour the vodka over the lemon rind in the two jars, seal them and turn to mix.

3. Leave for 1 week, shaking the jars gently from time to time.

4. Place the sugar in a large heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over the top, and stir well to dissolve.

5. While the sugar syrup is still hot, add the vodka and lemon-rind mix. Stir, cover and leave for 1 week.

6. Strain and divide between the cleaned jars, and add a few fresh strips of rind from a new lemon to each jar to decorate. Seal and keep forever.

Cook's tip: Classic limoncello is made with Sorrento lemons, but any good-quality, unwaxed and preferably organic lemons will do.

• If drinking this as an after-dinner digestif, serve in shot glasses – chilling both glasses and limoncello well in advance.

• Dilute with sparkling water to make a gorgeous, zesty long drink, adding the juice of one fresh lemon per four drinks for extra zing.

• This is a great cocktail ingredient – use it to make Limoncello Martinis with equal parts vodka (unflavoured) and limoncello, and a small dash of fresh lemon juice, all shaken over ice and strained into chilled martini glasses.

• Pour over pancakes and/or ice cream, or use it to make a grown-up lemon drizzle cake. This makes a fabulous ingredient in lemon possets and syllabubs, too.