Cherry season always means for me that it’s time to get out the old crock and make brandied cherries. My crock is ceramic, with a lid that snaps closed but any glass container with a tight-fitting lid will do, and a half-gallon size is about the smallest size to make the crock worthwhile. But if the glass is clear, store it in a dark closet while it ages.
SERVINGS
about 8 cups of cherries (1/2 gallon)
PREPARATION
1. Fill the container with ripe but firm, unblemished cherries—I’ll use either sweet or sour, depending on which look the best. You can pit them, but I think the slight almond flavor of the pits adds a grace note to the cherries, so I don’t. If I’m using sweet cherries, I add 1 cup of sugar to the crock for every 2 pounds; if sour, 11/2 cups of sugar.
2. Fill the crock with a decent brandy to within an inch of the top, cover with two layers of waxed paper, and snap down the lid. Because my ceramic crock is light-proof, I store the cherries on the kitchen counter, as room temperature allows the cherries to macerate better than in the fridge. Once the cherries have macerated for a month or two, I move them to the fridge to keep the cherries from becoming overly soft and falling apart, and they stay there until the holiday season.
Tip
Brandied cherries over homemade organic vanilla ice cream (using a real vanilla bean) make a fine finish to the Thanksgiving turkey. Or make cherry-vanilla ice cream with them, adding a few tablespoons of the brandy liquid from the crock (don’t use too much brandy or the ice cream won’t harden). Or, brandied cherries, almonds, chocolate, and a glass of well-aged port (but no cigar) could be the perfect close to a Christmas dinner.
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