Maraschino Cherries Recipe
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Real maraschino cherries are made with small, sour marasca cherries that are grown mostly in Croatia, as well as in Italy, Slovenia, and southern Hungary. You can buy imported maraschino cherries, but for a good substitute in a deserving cocktail, make your own with more local cherry varieties such as Bing.
This recipe was featured as part of our DIY Home Bar project.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound sweet cherries, such as Bing, washed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped, pod and seeds reserved
- 1 cup maraschino liqueur, preferably Luxardo
INSTRUCTIONS
- Stem and pit cherries, reserving the pits. Place pits in a resealable plastic bag, cover the bag with a kitchen towel, and, using a meat mallet or the bottom of a frying pan, smash the pits.
- Place sugar, water, vanilla bean pod and seeds, and smashed cherry pits in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, about 40 minutes.
- Place a fine-mesh strainer over a medium container with a spout and strain the syrup. Reserve the vanilla bean pod, making sure to remove any trace of the pits, and discard the remaining solids. Add the maraschino liqueur to the syrup and stir to combine.
- Place cherries in a 1-quart container with a tightfitting lid and tuck the vanilla bean pod in the center. Pour the maraschino syrup over the cherries, cover tightly, and refrigerate for at least 5 days before serving. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Think my cocktail cherry recipe makes a better cherry:
Cocktail Cherry Recipe:
- Blanch unpitted cherries, I use big juicy bing cherries with the pit in, in very Salty boiling water for 4 minutes (this keeps them firm)
- Rinse and soak for a few minutes in cool water to get rid of salt
- Place cherries in large jar
Add healthy amounts of the following: star anise, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, allspice, anise seed, fennel seed
- Make some REALLY concentrated red hibiscus tea (this is to help the cherries keep their color) and add 1/2 cup to the bottle
- If you can find some good cherry juice, or are crazy enough to make some fresh yourself, add a cup to the jar. You can also use a cup or so of good sour cherry jam instead.
- Fill the rest of the jar with vodka or cheap brandy
- 3-4 Tablespoon good bitter almond extract
- Add sugar to taste
- Wait at least a month
I should add that fully ripe pie cherries are really sweet-sour, whereas Bing and other sweet varieties are too sweet to use given the amount of sugar that must be added to make a decent syrup. The same is true if you're making your own cherry liqueur, which my family does using Montmorency cherries (which are in season only for about two weeks here, starting this weekend!). Moreover, you get a better result if, along with the vanilla, you add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract per quart of cherry mix. That helps to give that characteristic Maraschino flavor.
Nah, Bing cherries are *not* the ones to use for homemade maraschino cherries. Giv that you're looking for sourness plus flavor, fully ripe Balaton cherries and Montmorency/Northstar pie cherries fresh from the tree (NOT frozen or canned, please!) are the better bet. Here in the Midwest, there are plenty of U-pick cherry farms in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin that can oblige with the pie cherries, whereas for Balaton cherries, there are only a handful of orchards in central Michigan that I know of, but Balaton growers are slowly increasing.