I do little or no canning, but couldn't resist making these Maraschino Cherries. The recipe is from SB Canning on the internet and they looked good.
They are not as hard to make as the recipe appears, just need to set for 3 days and are canned on the fourth day.
That said, I would not consider them Maraschino Cherries like I am used to buying at the store. However, they taste good. I am going to try them in a cake as soon as I feel they have set long enough.
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| I hope you can see some of the cherries in the jars |
Maraschino Cherries
Processing: Hot Water Bath
Yield: 6 half pints (6 cups)
Ingredients
4 ½ pounds fresh cherries
8 cups water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
8 cups white sugar
3 cups water
1 lemon, freshly squeezed
2 tablespoons red food coloring
2 tablespoons almond extract
Day one
Choose dark red, good quality cherries. Wash and remove stones, keeping them as intact as possible. (the hardest part of this recipe).
Dissolve the salt into the 8 cups of water over medium heat; pouring over cherries in a non-reactive container and allow to rest over night.
Day two
Drain cherries and rinse gently to remove any brine. Whisk the 3 cups of water, sugar, fresh lemon juice and red food coloring until combined. Add cherries and stir gently.
Let stand till next day.
Day three
Drain cherries with a slotted spoon, reheat liquid over medium heat until almost boiling, then pour over the cherries. Allow to stand for one more day.
Day four
Preheat the jars in boiling water. Prepare lids according to manufacturers instructions. Bring the syrup to a boil then turn the heat off, whisk in almond extract then add cherries back to the syrup. Using a slotted spoon fill hot jars with cherries to within 1 inch headspace. Ladle syrup into jars to within ½ inch headspace. Wipe rims and apply lids and rings to finger-tip tight.
Process in hot water bath canner for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove jars after 5 minutes to a tea towel to cool overnight. The next day remove bands, label and store in a cool, dark place for up to 12 months.
You will have syrup left over. Quite a lot of syrup that I ended up throwing out, as I could not decide what to do with it.
I have never seen a recipe for these. How very interesting! Thanks for sharing. I love when you surprise us! Diane
ReplyDeleteI have to try making these cherries.
ReplyDeleteDo not throw away your syrup. Recently I candied pineapple and mango. I had a lot of syrup left over also from the four day process. I brought that syrup to a boil, poured it in hot jars, and processed it in a water bath.
This syrup is excellent mixed with club soda or flavoring lemonade, as ice cream topping, etc.
What a good idea. Using it as an ice cream topping sounds good.
ReplyDeleteLovely thing to do with cherries. It would be great if you popped over to Carole's chatter and linked this in to Food on Friday: Cherries and Almonds. Cheers
ReplyDelete