Brandied Cherries

Those of you who know me well know how much I love whiskey.  And what better whiskey drink than a custom, homemade Manhattan?  And what better to garnish your Manhattan than cherries you brandied yourself?  Since I'm branching out and writing about more than just jewelry on this little blog, I figured I'd share this relatively simple process.  The only hard part is having the patience to wait 4-6 weeks before they're ready!

Start with 1-2 pounds of your cherries of choice.  Mine were California Bing cherries, the first batch I've seen in stores this season.  Wash and de-stem.

Now comes the long (and tedious) process of pitting the cherries.  Some mixologists recommend leaving the pits in, as they add complexity to the flavor of the final product.  I prefer a pitless cocktail.  Find something fun to listen to (I chose Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, which is roughly an hour long--longer than I needed, but I'd never heard it before), a comfy spot with space for 3 bowls: one for pitted cherries, one for pits, and one for cherries waiting to be gutted.

Pitting cherries is a skill you can learn relatively quickly.  You can buy yourself a fancy cherry pitter, or you can do what I do: take a large paper clip (washed thoroughly, of course) and insert a straightened end into the stem hole until it reaches the pit.  Then circle the pit with the wire, loosening it from the flesh inside the cherry.

Once the pit is loose enough inside the fruit, you can more or less pop it out.  You might mangle a few cherries before you get this down, but have patience: it'll pay off in the long run.

Once your cherries are pitted, set them aside and get out your saucepan.  Add 3/4 cup each of water and sugar and the juice from half a lemon.  As that warms up, add your spices.  I used a traditional mulling mixture:

2 Allspice

4 pods Cardamom

1 stick Cinnamon

a couple pinches of nutmeg (use fresh grated if you can)

2 cloves

Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer for about ten minutes, until it's just reduced enough to appear syrupy; then turn the heat off.

Stir in one cup of brandy and your cherries.  Let the mixture sit until it cools.

Spoon the cherries into jars.  I reused some old pickle and olive jars (swirl lemon juice around inside the jars to rid them of any pickley-smelling residue).  Pour the remaining fluid over the cherries, and cover tightly.

Be sure to label the jars with the date.  You shouldn't eat cherries that have been around too long (I've read that "too long" is anywhere from 6 weeks to 1 year), but mine never hang around long enough to worry.  If you're experimenting with different spice combinations, you might also list your ingredients on the label.  Now, be patient: of course you can try these now or in a couple days, but they're best when they've been stored in the refrigerator for 4-6 weeks.

Brandied cherries are perfect in a Manhattan, but are also delicious on ice cream or pie.  Tom suggests drying them and making boozy trail mix (disclaimer: I've never dried brandied cherries, nor do I know whether it's possible; could be the makings for a future post!) or coating them in chocolate.  Enjoy; stay tuned and I'll let you know how this batch turns out.