The cheesecake recipe looks great. I'll have to try it after I stock up on Limoncello, after my trip to Italy.

Can you pick up Limoncello in Rome or Bologna? I don't know if I'll make it to Naples or if I do, I'll merely be passing through.

What sort of brand should I be looking out for? Are there different grades--like maple syrup?

Thanks in advance.

Lil

Lil, you can buy it all over Tuscany and Umbria, so I would guess you can get it in any major city in Italy.

Any major city sells this Limoncello. My wife pours it over vanilla ice cream.
I prefer cognac over ice cream.

An update on the raspberello (creamy version)...the bottle did not survive Christmas Eve. Four limoncello addicts devoured it, and decided it was actually better than limoncello itself. Very subtle flavor, not as sweet as the lemon, and a delightful smooth red color that went down so well on a wonderful Christmas Eve with friends. We are sad now because we have no more for today! I will buy a bottle of both the clear and creamy for New Years' certainly! Merry Christmas to you all!

OK, my limoncello cheesecake was such a hit, I've been asked to bake another one tomorrow for a friend's birthday party (poor guy with a birthday the day after Christmas - he deserves a good cake!) I'm thinking I'll try to find the raspberello (weird word/spelling for something Italian) liqueur and use that instead. But if not, the limoncello worked amazingly well. We smothered it in a glaze made of very slightly heated raspberry jam and frozen mixed berries and it was, well, to die for. What a recipe! I think this one will actually get written down and put in the recipe box - that's a rarity for me who doesn't ever "cook by the book."

FWIW,Mario Batali has a recipe for limoncello on the FoodTV website. I've made it several times to good reviews.

This may not help for an immediate fix, but it can be ordered online:
http://www.civeimporting.com/rasberello.html

Hi Lil,

Unfortunately, I am not at home and cannot give you brand names. However, the better brands are slightly greenish ** not ** bright yellow. Beware of "Natural Flavors" on the label.

If the sales persons offer you some, don't drink it straight from the freezer. Let it warm up a bit. If it tastes from synthetic chemicals, go on to another shop.

We paid about 7-8E for 750 ml of good limoncello from the Amalfi Coast.

Hi Ira!

Thanks for the tip. I would have gone for the "natural flavor" thinking it would be better!

So you would recommend buying it from a deli or salumnerie (I think) and not a supermarket? (When I was shopping for maple syrup in the New England area I used to hit the supermarkets. They were considerably cheaper than the stores that sell gifts.)

So when I taste, how should it smell and taste, other than non-chemically?

Thanks in advance!

Lil

Hi Lil,

My suggestion is to walk away from the main tourist shopping areas and find a small shop, preferably with some locals in it, and ask for their best limoncello.

IIRC it comes in different levels of alcohol, which affects the price.

The flavor should be like the scent of the nicest lemons that you have ever smelled.

If you buy it in Naples, you will be taking a chance. I bought a 750ml bottle in Spacanapoli after carefully checking the label. It read "All Natural Ingredients". After I opened it, I realized what the joke was between the clerk and one of his friends.

Limoncello should be lemons, lemon zest, alcohol and (maybe) sugar.

You might want to order a glass in a restaurant or cafe, and if you like it, ask to see the bottle.

Have a good trip.

Would they have it in Bologna, Florence or Rome?

Thanks.

StCirq:

The limoncello cheesecake was a BIG hit!

I had to use store bought shells for lack of time, but other than this one substitute, everything else was according to your recipe.

Thanks a million for posting a wonderful recipe! This one definitely goes into my recipe box! :)

Okay, y'all.... This thread got the better of me. After all the talk of Limoncello, I had to try some for myself. I went to Spec's Liquours (in Houston) today and they had at least 5 different kinds (although no raspberry or creamy versions).

So I had my first taste of Limoncello tonight. Yummy. Although it was exactly the same color as the lemon flavored Powerade my son was drinking at the time.

Thanks for inspiring me to try it. I guess the cheesecake is the next step.

Susan

Well, I just got back from the friend's birthday party, and the second limoncello cheesecake was an enormous hit there, too! I topped this one with black raspberry jam, which I melted and added a pint of fresh raspberries and some mint leaves to - yum! Never did find the raspbello liqueur, but I'll be on the lookout for it.
Yes, this recipe is definitely a keeper. And I still have more than 3/4 of a bottle of limoncello left!

While I, after reading this thread on and off the past few days, finally succumbed and polished off what was left in the bottle! Now I need to look for the Sogno di Sorrento brand so I can do a taste test.

Well, I couldn't be too picky, since all my favorite "wine and cheese" stores in the neighborhood told me they couldn't sell Limoncello, because it had *real alcohol* in it (huh? their wine doesn't have real alcohol in it?Coulda fooled me!) - and I needed to go to the ABC store. Well, I didn't believe for a minute I could find Limoncello at an ABC store in Alexandria, VA, but there it was!
The brand is Pallini, the bottle is beautiful, and it's 26% alcohol (inferior, I guess).
Since I'm not a Limoncello expert (but eager to become one), what are the best brands, and where can they be found?

StCirq, here in the US the best I can get is the Sogno di Sorrento, which is widely available here in the Boston area. This is not, however, the same brand I brought back from Italy. We brought back the brand made on Capri instead, and which we can't find here. The Sogno di Sorrento brand is the closest I can get to that Sorrento feeling! (And I have to think that if it's the only brand available in Boston's North End neighborhood, it has to be good!)

The best limoncello I have ever had was one served to me by an Italian friend. He is a Roman, but the limoncello was from Amalfi. It's called "Valle dei Mulini." There is a Web site -- also in English -- that explains the particular qualities of the Amalfi lemon that is used in making limoncello and describes the process of making it.

Unfortunately, I've never found it on this side of the ocean. Even in Rome, where practically every grocery store carries at least one limoncello, I once walked through half the centro storico to find it. It was well worth the effort!

Eloise

Amy, Martinetti's carried the Capri but there is no longer a distributer. They carry , Sorrento and Trieste, and another, I forget.

Authentic Limoncello is made from Sorrento lemons which come from Italy's Amalfi Coast. The ingredients are simple, they take the rines from the Sorrento lemons, soak them in pure 190 proof alcohol for about 90 days, then they add sugar, water and there you have your Limoncello. Think of it as alcoholic lemonade. If you actually take a bottle of vodka and infuse it with lemon rinds, you will see it turn a yellowish color, and you can put that in the freezer, you will have a similar (but not as sweet) taste to it. There are several Limoncello Liquers,but you can see that yours is fine. By the way have you eaten at 'Limoncello"in the North End across from the Paul Revere house?