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.
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.