Cherries in Red Wine
I just got back from a great event—the American Cheese Society conference, in Des Moines, IA. In addition to lots of great cheese, there was fine charcuterie and other specialty foods like jams and honeys. I was afraid to step on the scale when I returned!
Now it goes without saying that cheese was the star! But the fancy canned specialty foods were also spectacular. And they reminded to share my own Cherries in Red Wine with you!
Cherries in Red Wine
I have always been in love with high quality specialty foods. But good taste can be expensive so I decided to learn to make a few things myself. Yes, one day it’s down home zucchini fritters and the next organic sweet cherries in red wine with a savory edge. Just call me the schizophrenic blogger :-).
Canned Cherries in Red Wine
My recipe for Cherries in Red Wine was adapted from a fig preserve in the book Saving the Season. Now food safety people tell you never to alter canning recipes because you can end up changing the acidity that makes them safe. In this case, however, cherries are acidic enough to can in water, and wine even is more acidic, so I went ahead. And I was happy I did!
Cherries in red wine over ice cream
Most recently, my husband and I decided to try this over ice cream. We split a half pint jar of the cherries in red wine, heating it in a saucepan until the wine sauce thickened slightly, then pouring it over big scoops. The sweet cherries–blended with wine and spices like thyme, fennel and bay–were paradise! It would also be good on angel food or pound cake, or a with savory dish like meat or wild rice.
Cherries in red wine from above
If you’d rather not tackle canning, you can make a smaller batch and gobble them down within a few days. Really, this wouldn’t be hard! I haven’t tried freezing, but cherries generally freeze well…
Yes, a few more recipes like this and winter is going to be a snap!
Cherries in red wine sundae
- • 2 ½ c red wine
- • 1 c water
- • ¼ t black peppercorns
- • ¼ t fennel
- • 1 vanilla bean
- • 1 bay leaf
- • 3 sprigs thyme
- • 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 ½ lb pitted cherries (about 2 quarts)
- 3 T balsamic vinegar
- Bring syrup base ingredients to a boil. Add the cherries, bring back to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the vinegar then store in refrigerator overnight.
- The next day, remove and discard the bay leaf and vanilla pod. Refrigerate or freeze the cherries in syrup if you are not canning. Otherwise following canning directions below.
- To can (see note), return the cherries and syrup to a boil. Transfer to hot, clean, half pint canning jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims with a clean, dampened paper towel and apply two-piece metal lids and bands.
- Process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath if your altitude is under 1000 feet, adjusting for altitude if higher per this chart. After processing, remove from heat and let cool in canner for 5 minutes.
- Remove jars and let sit, undisturbed, 12 to 24 hours. Check the seals and refrigerate anything that hasn’t sealed and use it up quickly.
- Yield: about 8-9 half pints.
- This recipe assume you know how to can but for a great intro to canning see the Ball Canning website.
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This looks and sounds sensational! I’ve made roasted cherries with balsamic and brown sugar, a few years ago. It was also great on ice cream. I printed your recipe…sounds yummy!
I dump lots of recipes that I don’t think are good enough to post Kathy, but this is still one of my favorites Kathy. I’ll bet the roasted cherries recipe is delicious too–I have made a couple of your dessert posts and they’ve all been great.
I can’t wait to try this! And I will definitely make enough to process a few jars for winter enjoyment!
This is one of my favorites David! I have some additional cherries from the case frozen if I need to do more!
i wish i had cherries to spare, but i eat every single one i buy. i don’t bake with them or use them in applications like this, and that’s a shame! i just can’t stop eating them raw. 🙂
I understand, Grace–I won’t tell you how many cherries I ate every time I cooked with them! It’s only by getting a 20 lb case that I was able to do this 😉 !
Beautiful, really beautiful I can’t wait by cherries season.
This look beautiful Inger.
I loved finding new things to do with the case of cherries I got Gloria! Now it will be another year for me (except for what I have frozen–hooray for the freezer!)
This looks amazing – especially on the ice cream!
The ice cream part was big for the hot summer we’re having!