Cherries

[chadspad]

I have tons of cherries kindly donated by a friend. I also have some cherry liquour in the cupboard and thought I might store the fruit in that for laterz. Would I still need to sterilise the jars like u would for jam making? Would I need to de-pip the cherries (please so no ). Erm, what else, how long would I have to keep them for before theyre properly steeped in the alcohol and how long would they last in the jar like that?

Thanks Wendy

[Clara]

That sounds like a fab idea, the only thing I don´t know is whether you would need to add more sugar to prevent further fermentation.....someone clever will be along in a minute!

I would just boil the jar for 10 minutes.

To stone or not is your preference. I do, but that´s because I want to use them in cakes and can´t get my head round the idea of eating cake and spitting out cherry stones, if you are going to use them for cocktail purposes then leaving the stone in would be more acceptable.

The recipe I followed for mine was based on the authors grandmas cherries some of which remain and are over 40 years old. Apparently by that time even the stone is infused with the alcohol.

[Odsox]

I make cherry brandy from the sour Morello cherries and I never stone them for that, otherwise you wouldn't get that lovely almond flavour that comes from the stones
If you're making your liqueur from brandy or any other spirits then just a wash out of the jars to get rid of stale smells, no need to sterilise as the alcohol content will kill any nasties.
Then invite me round next year to taste it to make sure it's OK

[contadino]

The stones do provide something for the fruit to hang on to. I make Ciliegi di Spiritos Santos, using cherries, grappa, and a bit of sugar. I always leave the stones in, and try to use firmer, slightly unripe fruit. The alcohol makes them go a bit mushy.

[contadina]

We left a bit of stem on the last batch we made, providing a handy cocktail stick with which to fish them out and eat them.

Once you've jarred cherries with booze, shake the jars once a day for the first couple of weeks and then leave them somewhere cool and dark.

If you make some now it will ready by rocket fuel by Christmas .

[chadspad]

Thanks very much everyone - gonna do them tomora!!