Brandied Cherries Recipe
Homemade brandied cherries, with their sweet and fruity booziness are fantastic in cocktails, or added to desserts. They're also easy to make, and a fantastic way to preserve the cherry harvest. Select ripe, unblemished fruit with the stem on for the best flavor.
Servings: 32 servings (1 quart)
Calories: 75kcal
Ingredients
- 1 pound sweet cherries
- 1 vanilla bean split
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups unrefined cane sugar
- 1 cup brandy
Instructions
- Trim the stems of the cherries to about ¼ inch, or remove them entirely. Then pierce each cherry once with a toothpick to prevent splitting.
- Warm the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar fully dissolves. Drop in the cherries and vanilla bean, and simmer them in the hot syrup about 2 minutes.
- Strain the cherries, and reserve the syrup. Place the cherries and vanilla bean in a jar, and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature.
- Whisk the room-temperature syrup with brandy, and pour it over the cherries. Seal the jar, and place it in a cool, dark cupboard or store it in the fridge. Allow the cherries to age at least six weeks before serving, and shake the jar periodically.
Notes
Substitutions: You can experiment with different caloric sweeteners like maple sugar, jaggery and coconut palm sugar if you like, but remember to keep the sugar content high for the best results.
Nutrition
Calories: 75kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 35mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 1.5mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.1mg
