Summer cocktails call for summer cherries.

The last time I made cocktail cherries I soaked them in Kirschwasser, Amaretto, and pomegranate juice.  They were wonderful, but better suited to winter drinks like Manhattans.  These Limoncello Cherries will brighten up all your spritzers, sparklers, chillers, coolers, splashes, punches, smashes and fizzes.  After they’ve soaked for a few days in the lemony liqueur they’ll be ready for the party.

I made a new discovery with these cherries.  I was able to pit them while leaving the stem intact.  This is all because one day on facebook I was lamenting that I couldn’t pit my cherries without losing the stems.  A commenter (thanks Jean!) mentioned that maybe one could pit a cherry sideways.  I tried it and now I have pitted cherries with stems!  So much better for cocktails.  And by the way, if you haven’t ‘liked’ the blog on facebook you’re missing out on some good times. I post several times a day, sometimes sharing posts from other sites, sometimes bringing back recipes from my archives, and it’s a little more interactive than it can be here.  There’s a link on the top right of this page if you want to join in.

These cherries don’t require any special equipment.  I recycled a jam jar to store them in, and if you don’t have a cherry pitter (which are very inexpensive and fun to use) you can always make one out of an old fork!  Here’s a tutorial. You don’t have to have special canning supplies because the alcohol will preserve the fruit.  Keep them in the fridge and they’ll last at least as long as it takes you to go through them, just make sure the fruit is fully submerged in the liqueur.

Limoncello Cocktail Cherries
fresh cherries, washed and pitted
Limoncello (Italian lemon liqueur)
zest of 1 lemon (wash it first)

• Layer your cherries into a clean jar or jars, along with the lemon zest.  Fit the cherries into the jar as tightly as possible without squishing them too much, you don’t want mangled cherries in your drinks.
• Fill the jar to the brim with Limoncello, making sure to completely cover the cherries.  Cap tightly and refrigerate.  You can eat them right away, but they are best after a couple of days of soaking, at least.  And they just keep getting better.

Limoncello is nice to have around, you can use it in cocktails, and it can be used in lots of summer dessert recipes, but if you don’t want to buy a bottle you can also make your own. 

These are pretty spectacular on their own, right out of the jar, too!

One year ago today—