Call it cremoncello if you like: on the Amalfi peninsula, in Salerno province, this lemon cream liqueur is a local specialty. It is a milk rosolio, thick and creamy, milky-white rather than crystal-clear, with an alcoholic strength of about 30 degrees. The pour looks almost like a dessert sauce, yet it is still a sip meant to linger.
The craft is unhurried. After a cool rest, milk and sugar are boiled and folded in. Later comes vanillin, then sweet cream that is not whipped, stirred through until the blend is even. Vanilla sits in the background; the lemon stays the bright thread.
Most batches are still made at home. A few small artisan firms follow the same original recipe and sell it. Once bottled, the liqueur is kept, even in the freezer, for two months before it is drunk—time enough for the cream to settle into something cold, dense and ready.