Every summer it's the same battle. The squirrels, raccoons, and blackbirds want our cherries before they're fully ripe for our family's fresh eating. We do get to eat some of the cherries ripe and sweet off the tree. But also, I've gotten creative in using the cherries before they ripen and get snatched by the critters.
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| a bit of a rustic looking cherry pie |
This week I made cherry pie using underripe sweet cherries, lemon juice, corn starch, sugar, salt, and almond extract for the filling.
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| more cherry pie filling to use in another pie this week |
One trick I've learned about making pie with sweet cherries is to cook the filling in a saucepan before pouring into a pie crust. Sweet cherries tend to have a higher water content than sour cherries. So cooking some of that water out in the saucepan helps the pie cook evenly, fully cooked filling that's not at all soupy and crust that is golden brown. The pie was a hit and lasted 2 days in our house. I made another batch of pie filling yesterday, and I will bake it into a second cherry pie for tomorrow's dessert.
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| candied cherries |
Today I made a batch of candied cherries, following the instructions from this site. Overall, I think they turned out pretty good. The next time, though, I'll use less water to begin (maybe 2 1/2 cups instead of 3), as it took a long time for the liquid to thicken to syrup consistency and thus candy the cherries. I felt the cherries came out slightly overcooked as a result. I suppose the site's author used a larger saucepan than I did, and that would've cooked the liquid out faster. Anyway, I am pleased with the cherries.
Four cups of fresh cherries yielded two cups of candied cherries plus about 6 ounces of surplus syrup. I'll freeze the candied cherries and use them at Christmas in fruitcake and to top Swedish spritz cookies. I'll be using the surplus syrup on waffles later this week.
Tomorrow I plan on making cherry preserves. In years that we get a good crop of cherries, I make Bonne Maman style cherry preserves. These preserves are not only delicious on toast or muffins, but they make a nice topping for ice cream sundaes or filling for cakes.
My fingernails are so badly stained from pitting so many cherries this week. Fortunately, I don't have any place special I need to go. I guess that's a price I'm willing to pay. Terrible looking fingernails in exchange for tasty cherry treats made with organic and very locally-sourced cherries.
It's always a race with the critters to see who get to the produce first, isn't it. We have a sour cherry tree and didn't get any cherries this year. Storms blew many of the cherries off before they were ripe and the rest molded quickly with the wet weather. Oh, well.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteI'm sorry that between the wind and rain your cherry crop just wasn't this year. That's so disappointing, even if you're aware that this is a possibility each year.
We continue to battle the critters, here. This morning when I opened the drapes, I saw 2 large raccoons up in the cherry tree. I hustled out there in my pjs and tried to scare them off, but they're quite bold. It took effort on my part to get them to leave. I am determined to make several jars of preserves and pie filling for a couple more pies.
Those darn critters!!! My husband and daughter picked both sweet and sour cherries at a local orchard a couple of weeks ago, and we've been enjoying them since. Yum.
ReplyDeleteI have also found that cooking my cherry pie filling on a stovetop makes a much better pie filling. I'm not ambitious enough to make a lattice-top for my pies, so you're ahead of me. I think cherries are my favorite pie filling. I made a blueberry pie out of freshly picked blueberries last weekend, so we both must be on a pie-making kick. :)
Hi Kris,
DeleteWe don't live near cherry orchards. They're mostly across the mountains from us. I've been checking craigslist to see if anyone nearby has a sour cherry tree that would be willing to sell any of their count. It's supposedly a very good year for cherries in my area. Lucky you to have cherry orchards in your area! Enjoy those pies and other treats.
I am very envious of your blueberry pie. So far, I've never had enough blueberries from my bushes to make a pie. I hope someday to have enough and am taking as good care of my bushes as I can. I've only had blueberry pie made with canned pie filling, and that's mostly blue goo.
Years ago, I read a book on setting up a home garden. The book said that 3 mature blueberry bushes would be enough for a family of 4-6 for both fresh eating and freezing. I have 8 blueberry bushes and I never have enough to freeze, only enough for fresh eating. I'm guessing it's our shady yard at issue.
I never really cared for blueberries until I moved to the west side of Michigan, where there are several U-pick places. Fresh beats store-bought by a mile, and I totally agree with your "blue goo" from the canned blueberries. I don't know much about growing them, but I think they like lots of sun, as well as acidic soil.
DeleteWe live in sort of a "fruit bubble", where there are lots of fresh fruit orchards of many varieties not far from where we live. Also, fresh asparagus is easy to obtain from the farm market, as there are many asparagus farms north of us. I appreciate that about where we live.