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To Preserve Cherries in Syrup

A method for preserving cherries by boiling them in a sugar syrup with white currant juice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓

To Preserve Cherries in Syrup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cherries

  1. Select clear, transparent, and perfectly ripe cherries.

  2. Remove the stalks and stones carefully to avoid damaging the fruit.

Make the syrup and cook

  1. Make a syrup by mixing the sugar with water.

  2. Combine the cherries with the syrup and boil for about 15 minutes, skimming carefully.

  3. Transfer the cherries to a pan and let them sit overnight.

  4. Drain the cherries using a sieve.

  5. Return the syrup and white-currant juice to the preserving pan and boil until the syrup thickens.

  6. Add the cherries back to the syrup and boil for about 5 minutes.

  7. Remove from heat and skim the syrup.

Pot and seal

  1. Place the cherries into small pots or wide-mouthed bottles.

  2. Pour the syrup over the cherries.

  3. Let it cool completely, then seal tightly to exclude air.

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + curranttop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,256 recipes

Sugar and currant barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cherries
The main fruit, whose firm, ripe flesh is preserved whole in the syrup.
Sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, at high concentration, helps preserve it by drawing out moisture.
White-currant juice
Adds tartness and fruity flavour to the syrup, balancing the sweetness.

The step that matters

Skimming the syrup during boiling. Skimming removes foam and scum that rise as the fruit and sugar cook. Leaving them in can cloud the syrup and spoil its clarity and flavour.

“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.

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