Cherries are in full swing out here in Cali.

[forktender]

My Noni used to make brandied cherries, basically they were raw cherries in a sweetened brandy, then stored for sometimes yrs before they were eaten. Holy cow, the older they got, the stronger they seemed to get. Myself and many friends fell victim to them when we were teens.
Anyhow, I'd like to put up 6-8 Ball jars of them for old time sake.

Do any of you make these, if so what is your recipe and process?

Thank you.
Dan.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Sounds delicious Dan, I’ll be watching. Were they kept at room temp or fridge?

 

[DieselTech]

I had a friend who has passed, that used to make them. He had 2 versions.

One version was Everclear & cherries : the sweeter the better.

The other version he made with a high end bourbon like Woodford Reserve & Cherries.

Then he would store them in a cool dark place, for a minimum of a year.

& if you really want them to pop: throw a few cherry Jolly Ranchers in the mix & they will slowly dissolve & really pep them up.

 

[forktender]

Sounds delicious Dan, I’ll be watching. Were they kept at room temp or fridge?

Room temp, in closet/ liquor cabinet.
I'm pretty sure all she added was a few spoonfuls of sugar to each jar.
I'll find out from my Mom or Aunt, and post it up.

 

[forktender]

I had a friend who has passed, that used to make them. He had 2 versions.

One version was Everclear & cherries : the sweeter the better.

The other version he made with a high end bourbon like Woodford Reserve & Cherries.

Then he would store them in a cool dark place, for a minimum of a year.

& if you really want them to pop: throw a few cherry Jolly Ranchers in the mix & they will slowly dissolve & really pep them up.

After my Noni passed away, I found a case of her brandied cherries, they had to have been over 5 yrs+ old. After testing them, they were still good, so everyone got a jarful at Christmas, made a few people cry with that one.

I really like the idea of using bourbon, I'm going to give that a try for sure.

They are awesome over a brownie with a big scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream, or over gramp's bread pudding with a big scoop of whipped cream then lit to burn off a little of the liquor bite. I know there is a fancy French word for that, I just don't know how to spell it. flambay*... after googling it, Flambé.

 

[gmc2003]

An old co-worker of mine used to make this. I don't drink liquor. So I never tried them, however I do love cherries and really wanted to.

 

[forktender]

I called my 94 yr old Auntie down in San Diego, she lives on Coronado Island by herself. She blew me away with how sharp she still is, and she still drives, that's no easy task with SoCal's traffic.
I asked her about the recipe for my Noni's magic cherries.

She said that she had made them so many times that she didn't have to find a recipe. They use brandy, I used 1772 Bourbon after D DieselTech put that thought into my head, Bourbon is my go to liquor of choice

I made up these this morning.
The recipe is :

3.5 cups of Bourbon.

2/3rds cup of sugar.

And the juice of one lemon.

Combine everything in a stainless steel sauce pan and heat slowly untill all of the sugar is dissolved.

Pack cherries in clean Ball jars.

Pour hot bourbon over cherries, and screw the lids on.

If you need a little more liquid, to cover the cherries, just add boiling water.

They are best if you set them in a cool dark place for a month or longer if you can wait.

 

[DieselTech]

I called my 94 yr old Auntie down in San Diego, she lives on Coronado Island by herself. She blew me away with how sharp she still is, and she still drives, that's no easy task with SoCal's traffic.
I asked her about the recipe for my Noni's magic cherries.

She said that she had made them so many times that she didn't have to find a recipe. They use brandy, I used 1772 Bourbon after D DieselTech put that thought into my head, Bourbon is my go to liquor of choice

I made up these this morning.
The recipe is :

3.5 cups of Bourbon.

2/3rds cup of sugar.

And the juice of one lemon.

Combine everything in a stainless steel sauce pan and heat slowly untill all of the sugar is dissolved.

Pack cherries in clean Ball jars.

Pour hot bourbon over cherries, and screw the lids on.

They are best if you set them in a cool dark place for a month or longer if you can wait.

Them should be "Fire" in about 6months if you can wait that long.

The Bourbon, cherries & sugar should also make a fine cherry brandy Bourbon.

Nice!

 

[chopsaw]

Nice . Wonder how the vac sealer attachment would work on those . Speed things up ?

 

[forktender]

Nice . Wonder how the vac sealer attachment would work on those . Speed things up ?

Great idea as usual, if I still have mine, I will try it tomorrow, I have enough cherries for another pint.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Have you tried the Raineer variety? They are mostly just for eating but are sweeter and oh so good. They are originally from up in Washington (Mt Raineer) but are grown down in So cal now. I had a nice large tree but it died. I will plant another next spring.

 

[forktender]

Have you tried the Raineer variety? They are mostly just for eating but are sweeter and oh so good. They are originally from up in Washington (Mt Raineer) but are grown down in So cal now. I had a nice large tree but it died. I will plant another next spring.

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I haven't tried them in booze, but I love eating them.
If I see them at the farmers market this week, I'll grab some to try Brandied, and enough to eat, and make me sick. I can't stop eating cherries, I love'um.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

These be good in an Old Fashioned. I been eating the crap out of cherries for about a month know. They just finished up sours up in Michigan.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Cherries are on sale all over around here and this sounds like a great way to use some. In addition to desserts and drinks, what are some other ideas for using them?

I can't stop eating cherries, I love'um.

Me, too...

 

[daspyknows]

I am going to have to try this.

 

[forktender]

Great idea as usual, if I still have mine, I will try it tomorrow, I have enough cherries for another pint.

Well, I don't have the jar attachment any longer, so I ordered a cheap Inkbird unit that was supposed to have one, and it didn't, so it's being returned.
I should've known better, I need to stick with the buy once, cry once method from now on.