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Simple Canning: Brandied Cherries

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Jun 23, 2010 7:00PM

We bought a pint of black cherries from Mick Klug Farms at Green City Market last weekend. Cherries are a fleeting presence at farmers markets and preserving them for later use is a great way of extending their seasonality. Some folks dehydrate cherries for use in desserts, breads and entrées; some make jams and jellies out of them.

As a cocktail enthusiast, we've been making brandied cherries for a while. Brandying cherries and other fruit is also an easy introduction to canning. If you can do this, pickling isn't far behind. You can brandy them with or without the stones. After more than one time forgetting we kept the stones in past years, we opted to remove them before brandying this year. It's a simple recipe that you can do at home.

Our recipe for brandied black cherries (for use with one pint of cherries) includes:

1-1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup brandy or cognac 9for this recipe we used Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac)

Make a simple syrup from 1 cup of the sugar and the water. dissolve sugar completely and bring to a simmer. Blanch the cherries in the syrup for 2 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and allow to cool. Add the remaining sugar, dissolve completely and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. remove syrup from heat and allow to cool.

Fill a Mason jar with the cherries. Add cognac to syrup and stir in. Fill jar with syrup, making sure there are no air bubbles and seal. Set jar in a boiling pot of water for 15 minutes. remove and allow to cool. Store jar in a cool, dark place for 4 months.