During the summer, sour cherries have such a short season, so it’s important to enjoy them as much as possible while they are still available. These small-batch preserves are the perfect way to savor their amazing taste and incorporate them into your breakfast and dessert recipes. Whether you spread them on biscuits, or use them as a filling for crescent rolls or thumbprint cookies, these preserves are sure to impress.
At this exact moment, there are two vacuum-sealed bags of sour cherries in my freezer smiling at me each time I open my freezer door. So yeah, maybe they aren’t really smiling at me, maybe it’s just me smiling at them. And yes, perhaps my love for sour cherries is just a bit too intense and maybe I could be projecting emotions onto them that don’t really exist. I can’t help it though, there’s just something about their sweet, tangy tartness that I can’t seem to let go. I’m totally addicted. One thing’s for sure, their presence in my freezer is definitely worth a happy dance.
Thankfully, I couldn’t resist buying up another big ol’ batch of sour cherries a few weeks ago, while at my local farmer’s market. It’s a good thing I did too, because it was the last week my preferred fruit seller actually had them for sale. The heartbreak. They’re only in season for such a short amount of time; it feels like they pretty much come and go in the blink of an eye. I wish they were available all year round, but I suppose that’s part of what makes them so special. With these sweet, tart, and tangy preserves, at least I can relish their sour cherry goodness a wee bit longer.
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups Pitted & Chopped Sour Cherries
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Sea Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
Directions:
- Place the cherries, sugar, and salt into a medium non-reactive metal saucepan over high heat.
- Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Once the mixture comes to a boil, continue cooking for 10 minutes, stirring often.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
- With a metal spoon or ladle, spoon or ladle the mixture into a clean glass jar or container. Cover and allow to cool before refrigerating.
Suggestions:
- Sour cherries have a very short season. They are usually available in June or July, depending on where you live, and are often only available for a few weeks. If you can’t find sour cherries, you can replace them with sweet cherries, however, the preserves will definitely be much sweeter.
- I would suggest wearing dark or black clothing when pitting cherries. That way, if you get any cherry juice on you, it won’t stain your clothing.
- Make sure to stir the preserves often to prevent scorching them.
- You can use these preserves on toast or biscuits, to replace the blackberry preserves in these Sweet Balsamic Blackberry Crescent Rolls, or as a filling for these Tropical Cherry Coconut Shortbread or these Dark Rum Cherry Almond Thumbprint Cookies.
- These preserves will last approximately two weeks in the refrigerator.
Improvements:
- Add the zest from an orange to these preserves.
- Serve these preserves with these Easy, Flaky Breakfast Biscuits.
- Add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the preserves while boiling.
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups Pitted & Chopped Sour Cherries
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Sea Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
Directions:
- Place the cherries, sugar, and salt into a medium non-reactive metal saucepan over high heat.
- Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Once the mixture comes to a boil, continue cooking for 10 minutes, stirring often.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
- With a metal spoon or ladle, spoon or ladle the mixture into a clean glass jar or container. Cover and allow to cool before refrigerating.
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