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.
 |
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.
 |
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.
 |
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.