Pickled Cherries
Pickled cherries are a quick, easy, unexpected way to extend cherry season. Tartly sweet, subtly spiced, and surprisingly hard to stop eating, these little gems ably extend summer.
Equipment
- 1-quart glass jar with a lid and a rubber seal, sterilized and funnel
Ingredients
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 2/3 cups white wine vinegar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 star anise
- 4 cups whole fresh cherries, whether Bing, Rainier, or another sweet variety
Instructions
- If desired, remove the stems from the cherries. Do not remove the pits.
- Combine the sugar, vinegar, and spices in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes. Increase the heat and boil rapidly until the liquid has reduced by about a third, 10 to 15 minutes.
☞ TESTER TIP: To easily gauge when your mixture has reduced by 1/3, use a wooden skewer or popsicle stick as a depth gauge. Simply stick it in the pan at the beginning and make a notch at the depth of the liquid. Then, as you boil the mixture to reduce it, take the pan off the heat every 5 minutes or so to let the bubbles calm down and check the depth, continuing on until sufficiently reduced by about a third according to your measuring stick.
- Remove the pan from the heat, add the cherries, and let cool to room temperature, 1/2 to 1 hour.
- Pour the contents of the pan into a 1-quart glass jar with a lid and a rubber seal using a funnel. Close the lid and set aside in a cool, dark place for at least 2 weeks before opening. The contents should remain dark or bright red, depending on the type of cherries used, and the cherries will become wrinkled, somewhat similar to raisins.
- Once opened, your jar of pickled cherries can be stashed in the fridge and will last for up to a month.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 35kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 0.4g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.02g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 0.1mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g