Skip to main content
Dessert

Cherries

A method of preserving cherries in a sugar syrup to produce candied fruit.

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. Weigh an equal amount of fine sugar.

  4. Sprinkle a little sugar over the cherries.

  5. Let the cherries stand overnight.

Make the syrup

  1. Make a thick syrup with the remaining sugar.

  2. Let the syrup stand overnight.

  3. In the morning, bring the syrup to a boil.

  4. Add the cherries to the boiling syrup.

  5. Boil the cherries and syrup for five minutes.

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

Candy and dry

  1. Drain off the syrup.

  2. Boil the syrup until it thickens again.

  3. Pour the thick syrup over the cherries.

  4. The next morning, drain off the syrup.

  5. Boil the syrup to candy degree.

  6. Dip each cherry in the syrup.

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

  8. Once dry, pack the cherries in glass jars 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
Their fruit is the candied product; sugar gradually replaces their moisture, keeping them firm and sweet.
Fine sugar
Sugar draws water out of the fruit and, at high concentration, sets into a sweet, preserving coating.

The step that matters

Boil the syrup to candy degree. Syrup must reach the right concentration to form a firm, dry sugar coating. Too little cooking leaves the cherries sticky, while overcooking can make the coating brittle or grainy.

“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