Skip to main content
Dessert

Cherries

This recipe describes how to make candied cherries by soaking them in sugar syrup and drying them.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Cherries

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cherries

  1. Cut off the stems of the cherries to avoid tearing the fruit.

  2. Wipe the cherries with a soft cloth.

  3. Weigh the cherries.

  4. Weigh out an equal amount of fine sugar.

  5. Sprinkle a little sugar over the cherries.

  6. Let the cherries stand overnight.

Make the syrup and cook

  1. Make a thick syrup with the remaining sugar.

  2. Let the syrup stand overnight.

  3. Bring the syrup to a boil.

  4. Add the cherries to the boiling syrup.

  5. Boil the cherries in the syrup for five minutes.

  6. Let the cherries and syrup stand together for 24 hours.

  7. Drain off the syrup.

  8. Boil the drained syrup until it thickens again.

  9. Pour the thick syrup over the cherries.

  10. Drain off the syrup again.

  11. Boil the syrup to candy degree.

  12. Dip each cherry in the syrup.

Dry and pack

  1. Place the dipped cherries on a sieve in a warm place to dry.

  2. Once dry, pack the cherries in glass or boxes with waxed paper between layers.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Cherries
Provide the fruit that is slowly candied and becomes sweet and firm through sugar absorption.
Fine sugar
Draws water out of the fruit and builds the syrup that preserves and sweetens it.

The step that matters

Boil the syrup to candy degree. Sugar concentration determines whether the coating sets as a firm, dry glaze or stays sticky. Too little boiling leaves the cherries wet, while overcooking can make the syrup crystallise or turn brittle.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

White CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipesSpice CakeSpice Cake344 recipes