How to Make Satsuma-cello the Easy Way

How to Make Yummy Liqueur out of Bumper™ Satsumas the Easy Way

Satsuma-cello Cordial

Satsuma-cello is the Garden Debut® version of the sweet Italian liqueur known as Limoncello.  

Make Satsuma-cello from your home-grown harvest right now in time for the Christmas holidays. 

Bumper™ Hardy Satsuma trees add both nutrition and beauty to the edible garden. 

This fruit tree produces more Satsumas than other varieties of Satsuma and grows 10-12 feet tall in ground.  

Brilliant orange fruits contrast well with dark green, glossy, evergreen foliage for an edible ornamental hardy to 15 degrees F. (U.S.D.A. Zone 8B).  

Bumper™ Hardy Satsuma

Satsuma-cello, makes 1 quart

Ingredients

10 Bumper™ Satsumas

1 bottle (750 ml ) 150–proof Vodka

Large, lidded glass jar for steeping

2 cups white sugar

1 cup water

Directions

Scrub your Bumper™ Satsumas then zest them using a zester or vegetable peeler. 

Zesting the Satsuma

Take care not to include any of the white inner pith since this will make your liqueur bitter.  (Reserve the sections for juice or add to green tossed salads.

Removing Pith from Zest

Place the peels in a large glass jar with a lid and pour good-quality high test vodka over the Satsuma peels. 

Steep where it is handy to swish

Steep at room temperature for 10 days to 4 weeks, swishing gently every 5 days or so to mix. The longer the mixture rests, the more intense the flavor will be. 

Test if it is ready by smelling its fragrance and by checking if the peels snap when bent in half. The vodka slowly takes on the flavor and color of the Satsuma peels.

Strain the peels from the Vodka essence

Remove the peels by straining the flavored vodka essence through a coffee filters until clear.  I put the coffee filter inside a strainer to keep it upright. 

Add Sugar Syrup to Vodka Essence

Make sugar syrup by dissolving white cane sugar in water in a saucepan and cooking over medium heat until just dissolved, but do not bring to a boil. If you use unbleached sugar, your Satsuma-cello will be more tan in color.

Cool and add syrup to the strained vodka essence, then steep for another 4 weeks in a cool, dark location, again swishing gently every once in awhile to combine flavors.

Voila! Satsuma-cello

The finished liqueur will be ready to enjoy with a dessert or to package in decorative glass bottles for holiday gifts. 

Satsuma=cello is great as an after-dinner digestif in a small cordial glass, as an ice cream topping or in the construction of cocktails such as Cosmopolitans. 

For more information about growing Satsumas in your edible garden, visit the Fruit Trees page at Garden Debut®   

Click on individual photos to enlarge them.

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photos copyright Geri Laufer, 2012

please give credit.