Just got given 5kgs fresh cherries!

unknowndisorder, Jan 1, 2:07pm
Bump for uses of cherries

jan2242, Jan 1, 2:20pm
Yes please. Like the idea of brandy but the budget won't stretch that far. Any recipes without loads of sugar?

maximus44, Jan 1, 10:05pm
Lucky you.

punkinthefirst, Jan 1, 11:22pm
This year, I found "seconds" on a roadside stall for $4 kg, so I've made cherry jam, cherries in brandy, bottled a few, and will freeze some as well. I found a recipe for home made Kirsch, which uses just bashed up cherry stones steeped in vodka for several weeks. (about 75gms broken up stones to 500 mls vodka to start with. Add more if needed and shake the bottle daily for 5 - 6 weeks, then strain). Its a great use for the stones! It tastes pretty flavoursome after just a couple of weeks. I'm going to try growing some trees from the rest of the stones.AND they freeze well, cooked or uncooked.

nextstop, Jan 2, 2:32pm
Cherry berry jam is my fav, and such a delicious way to enjoy the cherries everyday:)

jan2242, Jan 2, 6:12pm
Made jam yesterday and as much as I love fresh cherries, the jam was revolting. I am now turning it into chutney so fingers crossed it will be ok.

punkinthefirst, Jan 2, 11:08pm
Cherry jam revolting? No! Did you add the peel of a lemon and some cinnamon sticks to the fruit before you cooked it - and lemon juice as well?
It has a delicate flavour that yeast breads tend to overpower, but is delicious on scones, pikelets, pancakes and waffles, and as a dessert topping.

nextstop, Jan 2, 11:55pm
I make heaps of cherry berry, 1kg cherries, 1kg mixed strawberries, raspberries, whatever I have handy, 2kg sugar. a smidge of vanilla, just delicious! All of my friends love it.

rainrain1, Jan 3, 12:08pm
Eat them frozen, they are like little mini ice blocks

wasala, Feb 3, 4:24am
Can I freeze some? And what else can we do with them? Just raced to Stevens and bought a pitter!

autumnwinds, Feb 3, 5:43am
Make cherry brandy or cherry vodka?

Either put whole cherries (though I like to halve them), pricked all over with a sterilised needle, into a sterilised wide neck bottle.

Fill the bottle 1/3 full with castor sugar, then top with either brandy or vodka. Put top on jar, shake gently until sugar is dissolved.

Turn/shake every day for four days, making sure fruit is covered with liquid, then leave in either the fridge or a dark cool cupboard for several weeks at least.- months is better.

Serve the fruit over icecream, and the liquor can be used as either cherry brandy or cherry vodka. YUM - I have a jar of each just stased away in the fridge.

autumnwinds, Feb 3, 5:46am
They freeze well -whole - and there's nothing quite like the traditional American cherry pie. a quick Google will find you one.

Otherwise, just enjoy them as themselves, make cherry jam, gently stew them in a simple syrup (equal parts of sugar and water). so many ways, so little time.

dibble35, Feb 3, 4:05pm
Im so jealous. I love cherries. I could happily eat a kilo of them over a few days.

lythande1, Feb 3, 4:39pm
Just eat them! Mmmmm

samanya, Feb 3, 10:36pm
This is very similar to autumnwind's suggestion . weight for weight of sugar, pop in a crock/jar & cover with brandy. Using the same ratio of sugar/fruit you can add other seasonal fruit such as peaches, nectarines, plums etc etc.(Strawberries tend to mush a bit, but they give good flavour)
Cover & keep in a coolish place.
It keeps forever it seems.
Like AW I have the remains of a 6 year old 'brandy crock', with a variety of fruit in my spare fridge & it's still fine.
It always goes down a treat with ice cream for a simple dessert.
I got the recipe from an American book full of recipes for a self sufficient lifestyle . it's years old & the brandy crock is one of the recipes that I make every couple of years.

wasala, Feb 3, 11:06pm
Yum. Thank you!

it's surprising how fast the family members are getting through them. Even our boy who says he's never liked cherries. Yeah, right!

paora-tm, Feb 4, 12:03am
Damn, how lucky are you? What price are they selling for at the moment - never seen them for less than $15 a kilo. The cherry brandy suggested is an excellent idea. Use up some of the brandied cherries in Cherry Clafoutis - google it.

duckmoon, Feb 4, 4:10am
That would take us 10 day to eat. Or less

Place in fridge, on trays, only two or three layers deep.
And enjoy eating

nextstop, Feb 10, 1:42pm
My sister has a cherry farm, and they freeze very well. also make great jam, cherry berry is my favourite, or a delicious sauce for meat - use a plum sauce recipe. Delicious!

figjamto, Feb 11, 3:55pm
Lucky you, cherries are one of my favorite things, they do not last long enough with me, am eating them on the way back from the supermarket . there are some lovely recipes for cherries however. just google

socram, Oct 25, 7:04am
Have you noticed that in NZ supermarkets, apart from cherry yoghurt, there is virtually nothing else apart from maybe jars of cherries?

No cherry juice, cherry flavoured cider/beer, ice cream, cherry pie filling etc. First call when in the Med is to go into the first small grocer's shop and bag 2 or 3 cartons of cherry juice and grab a cherry ice cream (with real cherries in it of course)!