Lemon/lime/orange/grapefruit Extract

I am obsessed with homemade extracts.

I see you rolling your eyes at my dramatic use of the word "obsessed", or perhaps you're just bored with it because I'm seemingly obsessed with everything I make.

But seriously, I'm so so so so so into making my own homemade extracts.

They taste so much better than store-bought versions, and I've been placing them in these cute little corked bottles and using them as decorative accents in my kitchen.  It's called killing two birds with one stone, people.  I need extracts, and I need cute decorations.

Classy and crafty.

Previously, I've made vanilla extract and habanero extract.  The habanero was an unusual choice, but it actually serves as more of a heat introducer than a flavor.  When I need to punch up the spice in a dish, a little drop of that extract goes a seriously long way.

Right now, I'm into citrus extracts.  Summer is ending and the fruit is about to get super expensive at the grocery store.  That, and in the middle of winter, it's hard to know exactly how fresh or how local your produce is.  Preserving flavor in extracts is like carrying a little of that fresh summer flavor into the colder months when you desperately want a juicy bite of citrus.

The first up is lemon extract.

It's super easy and makes an appearance in many of my favorite lemon desserts.  Plus, like I said, it looks so super classy sitting on my counter begging to be baked with.

To do this, I highly recommend using a good quality tool for zesting or peeling.  The pith under the zest is really bitter and gross, and you want to have a tool that won't bite into that nasty white layer.  I used a citrus peeler that pulled off the peel in nice strips without removing the pith.  The strips look very cool hanging out in the extract and make the bottles easier to identify if they don't have labels.




Lemon Extract

2/3 cup grain alcohol
Peel from 3 lemons


Find a decorative 8 oz. jar and sterilize in boiling water.

Place peels in the jar.  Pour grain alcohol over the top and seal the jar.

Leave for at 2-4 weeks before using, shaking the bottles every couple days.