Italian homemade orange liqueur
( Arancino )

Italian orange liqueur recipe

Preparation

• - Peel oranges and remove their white pith with a sharp knife.
  In other words, get only their zest, the thin layer of colored skin.
• - Soak orange zest strips in ethyl alcohol.
  Close the container very well and let these strips in alcohol, 30 days.

Cooking

• - After soaking time, you have to place granulated sugar in a large saucepan with 1.1 liters (40 fl oz - 5 C) of cold water.
  Dissolve sugar in water over a very low heat.
  Let your solution cool.
• - Meanwhile pass alcohol with orange strips through a sieve.
• - Mix the two solutions very well.
  Distribute in very clean and dry bottles.

Just before serving

• -You can drink this liqueur after few weeks .
• - Serve this Italian orange liqueur, well cold, in little glasses.

Note

Tips

• - I've suggested you my preferred quantities of water and sugar but you can modify them according to your taste. If you wish a minor alcoholic content, you have to increase the water quantity. If you like sweeter liqueurs, you have to increase the sugar quantity.
• - Soaking time is very important too. If you want, you can modify it. But you have to consider that, if you want a good liqueur, soaking time must be observed.
  However, much depends on the thickness of orange skins. If you use a vegetable peeler, your skin will be very thin and then you'll have to reduce soaking time. But I'm not sure your results are similar.
• - It would be better to preserve your liqueur in the dark.
• - Remember to preserve your orange liqueur in your freezer. As I have just written, you have to serve it very, very cold in little glasses.
• - Who told me how to do this recipe for arancino had also given me a very wise tip. Here it is!
  "It is not  essential to prepare the oranges all together. As you eat oranges and find the best and most aromatic ones, prepare their peels to soak in alcohol."
  This way I get that color you see in the jug with liquor in preparation.
  Beside there is the bottle with my ready-to-drink liquor. The next opalescence is due to the addition of the syrup.

Menu planning

• - You can serve this liqueur after the dessert, in a dinner or lunch menu.
  It tastes fantastic after a chocolate cake or "pastiera napoletana" (Neapolitan Easter Tart). Link below.
• - I have the habit to use it, in very little quantities, to flavor fruit-salads or fresh pineapple slices.
• - If diluted in milk, you can use it to moisten sponge cake.
• - Another habit of mine: I add it to risotto in place of wine or as a final touch.

Useful links for this recipe

• - Here's the link for Neapolitan Easter tart (pastiera)

Healthy eating

• - Calories of orange liqueur (arancino) are related to a portion of 30ml (2 tablespoons).
• - Alcohol should be drunk with great balance. So, no alcohol in childhood and adolescence. In old age the dose should be decreased. A pregnant or breastfeeding woman should avoid it. The same tip for people that have to drive a motor vehicle.
  And remember that the liver of a woman is not able to metabolize the same amount of alcohol of a man. I'm talking about 1 to 2 units (U.A.) of alcohol per day for women and 2 to 3 units per day for men. One unit (U.A.) corresponds to 8 grams of alcohol tht is a glass of table wine (125ml - 4 1/4 fluid ounces).

Loretta