Homemade Cherry Liqueur | Guignolet
This cherry liqueur is made with kirsch, red wine, and sugar is an easy preserve that captures the cherry season long after it's gone. Simply the best and unspeakably better than anything you can buy in a bottle.
Equipment
- Sterilized bottles or jars with corks or lids
Ingredients
- 1 pound unblemished cherries, pitted
- One (26-ounce) bottle light red wine, such as a pinot noir or a Côtes du Rhône
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons kirsch
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the cherries, wine, and sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Immediately reduce the heat and let it simmer languidly for 5 minutes or so. Remove from the heat and let cool.
- Stir the kirsch into the cherries and wine. Transfer the boozy liquid to a container with a tight-fitting lid, cover, and set aside at room temperature or in the fridge for 2 days.
- Pour the liqueur, including the cherries, into sterilized bottles or jars with screw-top lids. Either stop the bottles with new corks or screw the lids onto the jars. Refrigerate the cherry liqueur until you consume it, preferably that same week.
- Strain the cherry liqueur just before serving. Reserve the boozy cherries left behind to spoon over ice cream, layer with cake and whipped cream, plop atop rice pudding, or, well, we could go on, but you get the idea. Sip the chilled liqueur as-is or turn it into a spritzer* (see What You Need To Know below) and savor.
Notes
Homemade Cherry Liqueur | Guignolet Variation
What You Need To Know: How To Make A Cherry Spritzer Although you can sip this cherry liqueur straight up, you can also simply add a splash of this cherry liqueur to sparkling water or seltzer to make a spritzer or, if you’re feeling fancy, mix it with white wine to make a cherry kir or sparkling wine to make a kir royale. All admirable aperitifs. Variation: Apricot Liqueur Place 1 pound apricots, halved and pitted, in a saucepan with 2 1/4 cups sugar and 3 cups dry white wine and proceed as above. When you take the pan off the heat, add 5 tablespoons amaretto and 1 1/4 cups vodka. Pour the apricots and the liquid into a bowl or pitcher, cover with a small plate that will keep the apricots submerged, then cover with a clean towel and leave at room temperature for 6 days. Strain the liqueur or filter it twice through cheesecloth, as the apricots do disintegrate a bit, and pour it into clean, sterilized bottles or jars. Add corks or screw-tops and refrigerate for up to a month before using. The liqueur itself should be served in small glasses—I prefer it chilled—or mixed with white wine or sparkling white wine to make an apricot kir. The boozy apricots can be used as you would the cherries above or folded into lightly sweetened whipped cream to make a lovely fool.Nutrition
Serving: 2tablespoons | Calories: 71kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 0.1mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 11g