GORDON RAMSAY RECIPES INGREDIENTS: Cocktail Cherries

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time you probably know that we have a thing for cocktail cherries in this house. My husband is a Manhattan drinker, and you can’t have a Manhattan without a cherry. He likes the expensive all natural ones, so I try and make my own as often as I can. We’ve long run through this summer’s LIMONCELLO CHERRIES. They were wonderful, but I’m more in a warm spicy mood now. These Holiday Spiced Cherries make great gifts, too, so if you see fresh cherries, grab them. Aside from their regular summer season, they show up at random times in my store, but you can often find them during the holidays. These are from Ecuador.

If you’re used to the neon red dye # 40 version, a good gourmet cherry can be a revelation. The whiskey and spices slowly seep into the flesh of the fruit and not only flavor it but preserve it. Even if you don’t drink these can be used to garnish ice cream and other desserts, too. Depending on your level of self control, you could easily plow through the whole jar in a sitting, just popping these beauties into your mouth one after another.

I left my spices whole, but you can also crush them a bit to extract even more spice flavor. It depends on your preference. If you’re giving these as a gift, I think the whole spices look prettier. The longer the cherries soak, the more flavor they will absorb. And don’t let the whiskey go to waste after you’ve used up the cherries, by the way, it will make great cocktails on its own.

Holiday Spiced Cocktail Cherries

What You Will Need

1 lb cherries, pitted
1 cinnamon stick, broken in two
1/4 tsp allspice berries
1/4 tsp whole cloves
1/4 tsp multicolor peppercorns
1/2 of a whole nutmeg
2 – 3 whole star anise
whiskey
kirschwasser (optional)

Instructions

To pit your cherries, turn them sideways, that way you will retain the stem. A CHERRY PITTER works perfectly, and is well worth having around.
Layer the cherries along with the whole spices in a glass jar, or jars. If you are giving the cherries as a gift, you may want to position the spices along the outside so they can be seen. Fill 3/4 of the way with whiskey, and top off with the kirschwasser, if using. Make sure all the cherries are submerged.
Cover the jars tightly and refrigerate.

2.2

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Here’s to making the holiday rush a little more pleasant!

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—

Spinach and Onion Pakora with Green Chutney

Chef Gordon Ramsay Recipes

Tag: Cocktail Cherries

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