Christmas food gifts to start now: limoncello, syrup and nuts
The best edible presents need time. Start the limoncello this month, make rose-hip syrup and spiced nuts later, and wrap them so they look as good as they taste.
Every year someone asks me in December what they can make as a present, and every year my answer is the same: the best one should have been started in October. Edible gifts that taste of patience are the ones people remember. A bottle of limoncello that has rested for a month is soft and round. One made in a weekend tastes of alcohol and good intentions.
So here is my plan. Three gifts, started in the right order, finished in time for Christmas Eve on 24 December, with a little advice on bottles, labels and wrapping at the end.
Limoncello: the one that needs time
You need 6 to 8 unwaxed, preferably organic lemons, 500 ml of neutral spirit, and a syrup of sugar and water. Traditional recipes use a high-proof grain spirit. If you cannot find one, a clean, plain 40% vodka works well and gives a gentler, slightly less intense liqueur.
Wash and dry the lemons. With a sharp peeler, take only the yellow zest. The white pith underneath is bitter, so leave it on the fruit. Put the zest in a large clean jar, pour over the spirit, close it and keep it somewhere cool and dark. Give it a shake every few days. After about two weeks the spirit is bright yellow and the peel has turned pale and brittle.
Strain out the peel. Make a syrup with 300 to 400 g sugar and 500 ml water, warm until dissolved, then cool completely before mixing it in. Bottle it and let it rest for another one to two weeks. Four weeks in total is my minimum. Keep the finished bottles in the fridge or freezer and serve it ice cold.
Recipe: limoncello spritz
Rose-hip syrup and spiced nuts
Rose-hip syrup is the most Swedish thing in my pantry. Halve rose hips, simmer them in water until soft, then strain through a jelly bag or a double layer of muslin. Strain twice. The tiny hairs around the seeds are irritating to the throat, and you want none of them in the bottle. Return the liquid to the pan with sugar, roughly 500 g per litre, add lemon juice, boil for a few minutes and pour hot into sterilised bottles. Frozen rose hips work perfectly if the bushes are already bare.
A homemade syrup like this has no preservatives, so treat it as fresh food. Keep it in the fridge, use it within about four weeks once opened, and tell the person you give it to. If you want to make it earlier, freeze it in small bottles leaving space at the top, and thaw in the fridge.
Recipe: alcohol free rose hip spritz with orange and cardamom
Spiced nuts are the quick, last-minute present. Toss almonds, pecans or walnuts with egg white, sugar, salt, cinnamon, a pinch of cayenne and a little rosemary, and bake low at about 150 °C until crisp. Cooled and sealed in an airtight jar, they keep well for about two weeks, so make them in the final week.
Recipe: toblerone caramelised white chocolate dipped roasted nuts with flaky salt
Working back from Christmas Eve
- Late October: Buy unwaxed lemons and your spirit. Peel and start the limoncello steeping.
- Early November: Collect or buy bottles, swing-top flasks and jars. Order labels or tags if you want printed ones.
- Mid November: Strain the limoncello, add the cooled syrup, bottle and rest it in a cool dark place.
- Early December: Make the rose-hip syrup. Bottle in sterilised bottles and keep in the fridge, or freeze some.
- 17 to 20 December: Bake the spiced nuts and seal them in airtight jars as soon as they are completely cold.
- 21 to 23 December: Label, wrap and add care notes. Move the limoncello to the freezer.
- 24 December: Give, pour and enjoy.
Bottles, labels and wrapping
- Sterilise: wash bottles and lids in hot soapy water, rinse, then dry the glass in a 120 °C oven for 15 minutes. Boil metal lids and swing-top seals for a few minutes. Fill while the glass is still warm.
- Seal well: swing-top bottles and Weck jars look lovely and close properly. Avoid cork stoppers for syrup.
- Label honestly: write the name, the date it was made, and storage advice. For the syrup, write 'Keep in the fridge. Use within 4 weeks of opening.' For limoncello, add the alcohol content if you know it.
- Wrap simply: brown paper, cotton twine, a sprig of dried rosemary or bay. A small handwritten card with a serving idea makes it feel personal.
Bella's tip: Write the labels the day you bottle. In December you will not remember which bottle is which, I promise.
Guide: syrups infusions
