Last summer I made cherry brandy and it was one of those things that you try because you think it could be quite nice and make a nice gift and turns out to be way better than you could ever imagine. As cherry season is shortly here (my friends cherry tree is almost ready to be raided) I thought I would post the recipe for others to try. It is so delicious and one of the ways in which it is hugely better than bought cherry brandy (besides price and knowing what goes into it) is that you can also eat the cherries as a dessert in their own right, delicious with ice cream, cream or yoghurt.
Makes approx 750 ml (3 small preserving jars)
Ingredients
500g just ripe cherries
Approx 175 g caster sugar
Approx 350 ml brandy (the cheapest of the cheap will do) Mine was this basics from Sainsbury which is £8.99 for 750 ml, although I just noticed the same thing is £8.59 in Tesco.
1) Carefully place the washed cherries in some wide necked preserving jars packing them in tightly without squashing or bruising. (I pricked mine with a needle first)
2) add enough sugar to fill one third of the jar and top up with alcohol (as a general guide use 1/4 - 1/3 sugar and 3/4 - 2/3 alcohol to fruit)
3) Tap the jar gently on a board, turn it to and fro to release any bubbles and seal. The sugar will gradually disolve- give the jar a chake or turn it upside down to help it disolve.
4) Store in a dark cool place for approx 12 weeks to mature before opening.
Well worth the small amount of effort and if you have a cherry tree then what a treat.
Sounds quite potent. Shall have a go myself if I can get some cheap cherries from somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI don't like cherries at all but this does indeed sound like a great way to have a few presents on hand every year. Have done something similar with plum gin and plum vodka in years past. Do you know if it's necessary to use sweet cherries or sour ones or does it not really matter? The community garden I sometimes volunteer in has both so I can sometimes get my hands on some in the summer.
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